Left 4 Dead - Dead Verge
by TheRenegadeVampire
Summary: An original take on how the two sets of survivors met, and in order to survive they need to help each other through hell and back...
1. Let the flames begin

Zoey watched anxiously as the helicopter swept across the night sky above them on the roof top. She looked over to her companions who were all tired of weighing through the same scenario of taking ammunition, melees and loading their weapons...

Zoey took a medical kit from the table adjacent; she loaded her heavy rifle and slung an axe over her shoulder so that it hung on a tied rope across her back.

Glancing back at the others who nodded in agreement she pushed open the apartment door. Bill stepped through first holding a baseball bat firmly in his hands, with a slight limp on his right leg he made his way down the stairs. The three followed the older man and soon they reached the bottom of the staircase where they came to a door.

"On three."Bill said.

"One...Tw-"Bill was interrupted by Zoey who pushed past him gently and opened the door; she walked in carelessly and fired round after round into the zombies which hung in the corridor. The Three boys followed her quickly into the corridor and joined her in the rampage of bullets flying through the air in quick darts which slipped into the dead skin of the zombies in moments allowing them to fall to the feet of the survivors.

Francis led the way down the corridor and into one of the apartments, scanning the area quickly he noticed a red tin looking bottle on a counter.

"Found a Molotov. "He said in a low voice to the others who took little if any notice. Francis picked it up and pushed it deep into his pocket.

Suddenly a loud explosion alerted the survivors and Zoey glanced back at her companions from where she stood in the kitchen of the apartment. A loud cry made Zoey's green eyes glower with fear, her heart pounded in her chest and she loaded her gun quickly. Louis also loaded his gun before gesturing to Zoey to follow as he carefully made his way towards the window of the apartment. Francis followed the other two after tapping Bill's arm to bring him back to reality as he stood with his mind wandering in thoughts of the family he left behind when this apocalypse began.

The four walked with their backs pressed against the wall to stay as far away from the edge as possible. Then a loud crash and a shattering of glass caused them all to freeze. Ahead of them stood a charger at least a meter taller than all of the survivors. Zoey who was leading the way at that point glanced back to the others, her brown pony-tail whipping in the wind.

Before any of them could move the charger stormed towards Zoey. The girl looked back to the charger as it ran at full speed along the ledge. Although she was unable to move due to fear she felt her body start to shake without her own control. It felt like her heart was caught in her throat and she was about to choke on it. Then she felt a strong rope wrap around her neck, lifting her into the air.  
"Smoker!"Bill cried seeing Zoey being pulled up the wall of the apartment as she kicked her legs out in any direction she could. Struggling to breathe Zoey dropped her gun letting it fall off the edge of the building.  
By this time the charger had reached the others and took Louis right off the building in a matter of seconds. He screamed as the charger hit him but went sickeningly silent after a deathly crack was heard which was his neck snapping against the chargers strength.

Francis shot round after round up to wear the smoker had constricted Zoey. Bill stood by a smashed window shooting the common infected as they created a horde towards the remaining survivors. The Smoker fell backwards as the metal bullets entered his undead body. He was once again...dead.

Zoey screamed as the rope-like tongue untangled around her neck letting her fall towards Francis. He held out his arms and caught her, almost taking them both off the edge of the building. "Oh my fucking god."Zoey panted trying desperately to regain her breath. It was like the colour had been drained from the girls face. Her cheeks remained a pale purple colour for a few moments after the fall.  
"Guys, save the romance for later please."Bill said glancing back at Francis who still held Zoey in his arms. Zoey quickly pushed away and climbed back inside the apartment through the broken glass. Pulling the axe from where it hung behind her she swung at the zombies dotted around the room as they spotted her and charged at her aimlessly.

Bill followed her after fighting off the common infected horde with Francis. They climbed through the apartment gathering extra supplies and ammunition.  
Once they reached the corridor they noticed a fire had been started in the north quarter of the building, it was roaring out of control surrounding the route that they needed to take in order to reach the next saferoom.  
The three survivors made their way through the flaming building, choking as the smoke filled their lungs with a black ash which built up as they inhaled.

"We need to get off this floor."Francis called forward to Bill as he shot another common infected.  
"We'll need to find the elevator. That's our best bet."Bill shouted back as he stumbled on the leg he had been limping on.  
They made it to a clear area where windows covered the far right wall and on the left was an elevator. Francis clicked off his torch and nudged Bill to do the same. Zoey noticed the other two's actions and copied.  
"Listen."Francis whispered.  
Zoey looked around hearing light sobs growing louder and louder.  
"Witch."Zoey mumbled.  
The three spread out around the clear area to look for where she was.  
"Umm... Guys..."Zoey spoke softly. Francis and Bill turned to see where Zoey was looking.  
The witch was in the elevator.

"Oh for fuck sake."Bill said under his breath.  
"Hey witch bitch!"Francis called out shining his torch towards the sobbing girl.  
The witches' eyes shot up at him, glowing orange. Her hair hung over her head, she began to growl and wail in a high pitched tone. Pale greyish skin which made her orange eyes stand out even more.  
"Francis what are you doing?"Zoey yelled from behind the witch as she charged towards Francis.  
"Wait."Francis warned putting his hand up to make his companions stay put.

Francis let the witch approach him and come within a meter of knocking him down before pulling the molotov from his pocket and shoved it into the witches open mouth as she screamed. He kicked out his leg hitting her in the stomach, she stumbled backwards. Francis took out his pistol and shot a bullet into the witches mouth as she stumbled, hitting the molotov and creating a flame to ignite the witch in a cloud of fire she exploded leaving ashes on the floor and throwing Francis backwards due to the force. Zoey raised her arms in front of her face to shield herself. Bill pulled her front of his cap down in front of his face to block out the embers.

The witches' screams were gone and Francis stood and brushed off the ashes and embers which had gathered on his clothes. He walked towards the others and gestured for them to enter the elevator. Zoey and Bill didn't hesitate or say a word before following his gesture and standing side-by-side in the elevator. Bill pressed the glowing amber button on the side and the elevator doors clipped to a shut...


	2. Careful

Bill let out a held in sigh which shook his voice as he exhaled. Leaning his back against the elevator wall he wiped his forehead as sweat built up. Zoey pressed her back on the wall and let herself slide down until she was able to hug her knees, taking up even less space. Francis paced tiredly from end to end, stopping every now and again to glance at his companions.  
"When the charger was coming across the ledge.. Did you see what happened to Louis?"Zoey panted slightly.  
"But.. If it wasn't for that smoker, that would have been you being taken clear off the building."Bill stated.  
Zoey looked up and tried to stop the tears forming shiny layer over her green eyes.  
"What happened wasn't of our fault. There was nothing we could have done. One of us was going to be taken off the ledge."Francis told them.  
"You're basically saying that we're going to be taken down one by one."Zoey said standing to face Francis.  
"I never said that."Francis fought.  
"You implied it."Zoey said.  
Zoey's face became pale and she stepped back to rest against the wall.  
"We don't have time for this."Francis told her before he loaded his gun and stepped to face the doors.  
Zoey exhaled and brought her axe up in her hands, pushing a strand of brown hair behind her ear.  
The elevator jolted as it reached the next floor.  
"Zoey."Bill said holding a pot of pills out towards the girl. Zoey took the pills with a quick smile to say thank you, then stuffed them deep into her pocket.  
The elevator doors began to slide open, the survivors straightened up and watched as the doors exposed a crowd of infected.

Bill charged out firing round after round, reloading quickly and continuing to fire at the walking dead as they came from all angles.  
Zoey swung around the corner and took a common infected's head clean off with one swing. Twisting around she hit another, slicing its arm off and allowing a pool of scarlet blood to solidify around her. Francis took out a pipe bomb and threw it about a dozen meters away from where he and the others stood. It began to beep signalling that it would soon explode, the zombies close started swarming towards the bomb, surrounding it. The beeping became fast and the bomb went off, sending body parts of zombies through the air. Blood of the undead flew upwards hitting the survivors and staining their clothes and skin with the cold red solution.

Then the survivors were stopped by a loud roar echoing through the building. Zoey wobbled backwards and used the wall as support to keep her standing as the floor shook. Francis and Bill stood a few paces ahead of her holding their guns in their hands, Francis took that time to reload his rifle and hold it in a fixed aim at the dark corridor as it led down further through the building.

"Tank!"Bill yelled beginning to step backwards; being light on his feet he carefully loaded his gun and aimed into the dark corridor where the loud sound came from. He fired a warning shot into the darkness receiving another and louder roar.. It seemed to make the floor rumble twice as much, knocking Zoey right off her feet. Francis pulled her up and pushed her gently in the other direction to make her follow Bill.  
Zoey quickly ran after Bill looking back to where a Tank burst out of the darkness and smashed two holes into the floor with its fists. The Tank roared furiously and stormed towards the survivors.

Francis loaded his rifle and shot continuously at the huge infected creature. The floor shook again and sent the survivors flying across the corridor, the Tank caught up and threw on of its fists through the air, hitting Zoey in the stomach and forcing her into the wall. She fell lifeless onto the floor in a pile of rubble. Francis' eyes widened and he pulled her up, practically dragging her along the corridor. Bill was stumbling up ahead, shooting at the huge creature following them as it pulled itself up the corridor on its fists. Breathing heavily as his wounds took their tole, making him weaker and heavier for his mind to control. He became unfocused and divided his attention between the tank and other common infected, suddenly his hearing went and he only heard muffled shouts coming from Francis and he pulled Zoey towards him.

"Bill, molotov!"Francis exclaimed pointing to a unit a few meters behind him. Bill turned, keeping his gun aimed at the Tank and firing as he reached for the molotov. Gripping it tightly in his hand he pulled its cord and threw it towards the Tank as Francis reached him with Zoey's lifeless body in his arms.  
It made no sound as it flew through the greyish air. Until it exploded beside the Tank, setting its sheild-like skin alight.  
It roared as the flames engulfed its chest and arms, reaching up to its head.  
Bill glanced down as the Tank shook its arms around in burning pain. He noticed a spilt gasoline tank across the ground, right in front of the Tank.  
Before he had a chance to warn the others the tanks fists smashed into the gasoline and caused a huge burst of light to flash in front of the survivors. The explosion send a force pushing them back, Bill flew into the wall behind him and Francis lost grip of Zoey being send back into a pile of rubble. Zoey fell across the floor as the flames surrounded her.

...Half an hour later...

Zoey pulled her head up exposing her green eyes to the heat of the flames. She winced feeling a burn on her shoulder as she struggled to sit up.  
She pulled herself up and exposed bruises and cuts all over her body. Her jeans were ripped at her knees, where red raw scratches laid. She looked around seeing fire everywhere, beside her she saw a Tank sprawled across the corridor floor. She wiped her eyes to clear away some of the ash that had clotted across her face. Coughing as the smoke filled her lungs she heard a mumble behind her. Zoey turned her head carefully and spotted a figure slumped over a knocked over door and surrounded by rubble.  
"Bill?"Zoeys voice was a mere croak and it burned her throat to say even one word.  
"Zoey, is that you?"Bills weakened voice reached her.  
Zoey's eyes focused and she tried to move herself towards Bill's voice. She stumbled and fell again hitting her head on something soft. She looked up seeing that she had fallen on Bill.  
"Bill are you alright?"She asked using her hands to push herself onto her knees.  
"Zoey, listen.. Go down this corridor and then take the stairs to the ground floor. You'll find the saferoom there."Bill's voice was hoarse as he instructed Zoey.  
"Okay, come on."She said expected Bill to come with her.  
"No Zoey, I'll slow you down. You have to go."He told her.  
Zoeys eyes flickered and she looked around quickly.  
"Where's Francis?"She asked.  
"He's gone, the Tank crushed his ribs and then a smoker broke his neck.."Bill said with tears filling his eyes.

"No..."Zoey said hanging her head to hide the tears which began to fall.  
"Zoey.. You have to go now."Bill told her.  
"Not without you."She spoke softly.  
"I'm not giving you the choice darling."Bill sniffled.  
Bill had taken over a father figure to Zoey as they searched for survival in the hopeless world they roamed while the zombie apocalypse was at bay.  
"No. I'm not leaving you here."Zoey told him.  
"Zoey, you can't-"  
"No, come on.. I'll help you up."Zoey interrupted before struggling to bring herself to stand.  
She held out her hands and Bill reluctantly accepted her help. She pulled back using all of her weight, which wasn't much.  
"Zoey, please, you'll only hurt yourself."He told her.  
Zoey ignored his comment and brought him to stand, helping him to the wall where he was able to hold himself up.  
"You said down the corridor yeah?"Zoey continued.  
Bill nodded tiredly and Zoey put his arm around her neck so she could help him along.  
They had made it to the staircase when Bill stopped dead and took his arm from around Zoeys neck.  
Zoey turned, confused and narrowed her eyes at Bill.  
"What are you doing?"She asked.  
"I'm letting you go."He said clearly.  
"No."Zoey spoke confidently.  
"There's no way I'll make it down the staircase.. Please Zoey go."He pleaded.  
"Yes you will."Zoey told him going to take his arm again.  
Just then a growl came from behind them and Zoey turned quickly, seeing a hunter crawling towards them.  
"Oh crap."Zoey muttered pulling Bill's gun from him and shooting at the infected creature. Missing a few times due to her dizziness the hunter pounced and ripped at Zoey's clothes.  
She screamed and pushed at the creature, Bill picked up the axe that Zoey had dropped and swung it carefully across the hunters neck, knocking its head clean off. Bill pulled Zoey up and pushed his hand into his pocket, pulling out a shot of adrenaline. Pushing it towards Zoey he brought her head up with his hand under her chin.  
"Take this and then run. Until you reach the saferoom. Don't stop for anything. Just run. I'll be right behind you."Bill told her.  
"But you won't be behind me."She choked on the ash in the air.  
"I will be."He promised before giving her a gentle nudge in the arm to tell her to go.  
Zoey took a long look into Bill's pained eyes and blinked back a few tears.  
"...Okay."Zoey finally agreed.  
Bill gave her a caring smile before he nodded towards the adrenaline shot in her hand.  
Zoey exhaled deeply and pulled her gap off of the shot. She rolled up her sleeve and gulped a breath before pushing it into her arm. She threw the empty adrenaline tube on the floor and looked towards Bill who handed her ammunition and her axe.  
Zoey left swiftly to stop the tears. She ran down the stairs trying her best not to look back at Bill who was slowly coming down the staircase behind her gripping the wall tightly as he went.  
Zoey reached the bottom and spotted the saferoom up ahead.  
"Bill!"She exclaimed trying to get his attention from where he was half way down the first set of stairs.  
"Keep going!"She heard him call back.  
Zoey huffed and let the adrenaline build up in her veins before running towards the saferoom being followed by dozens of common infected as they were attracted by Zoey's loud footsteps.  
She reached the saferoom, tugging open the door she came face to face with a charger.  
"Shit."Zoey mumbled before turning to see where Bill was.  
"Zoey move!"Bill told her from where he limped quickly up the corridor.  
Zoey did as he said and forced herself out of the chargers way as it ran forwards with its arm ready to pound into something.  
"Bill!?"Zoey shouted realising what he had planned.  
She took the gun and loaded it quickly before shooting at the charger. Her heart pounded as she saw Bill get taken off his feet and slammed onto the ground by the huge monster.  
"Bill!"She screamed shooting furiously at the charger.  
The monster dropped to the ground and Bill choked on the blood which filled his mouth.  
Zoey ran to him and slumped down opposite. Just then the buildings alarm went of. Sirens sang all around the building, a crowd of screams echoed around them.  
"Hordes coming. Zoey, come on."Bill told her using the wall to pull himself up and pushing Zoey forward as he limped, fatigued behind her.  
As the horde reached the corridor Zoey stepped into the saferoom, turning to help Bill, when she saw the door close behind her.  
"Bill! What are you doing?!"She exclaimed.  
Bill ignored her question and pulled up a chair from beside the door, pushing it between the bars so that the door couldn't be opened from the inside.  
"Bill?"Zoey said again.  
"Zoey...Be careful."Bill told her.  
"Bill open the door, now!"She ordered.  
"I'm sorry Zoey."Bill sighed turning to the horde as they came crashing towards him.  
"Bill!"She called out, although her voice was hoarse and braking as she spoke the last time before clutching the bars on the door and watching as Bill was taken down by the horde. The flames illuminating her green eyes as she stood in the saferoom, alone...


	3. In the mourning

Zoey woke up parched and aching all over, her head was pounded and every blink formed more pain in her temples. She managed to keep her eyes open long enough to admire her surroundings. She was sat slumped against a wall facing the door of the saferoom. Her mind wandered back to last night and she winced at the thought. Zoey looked to the side noticing a wooden desk with items spread across it. She carefully pulled herself up and over to the desk which she used to hold up her weight as her aching legs couldn't take it. On the desk was a pile of ammunition, a few guns and some melees.. Zoey noticed a bottle on her right, she immediately grabbed it and poured the sweet tasting water into her mouth. Her rushed action left droplets of water running down her chin but she had more things to worry about than spilt water.

She put the half empty bottle down on the desk again and collected some weapons, slinging a rifle over her back and pushing ammunition into her pockets. Zoey took a medical pack from the table and carefully patched up some of her wounds.. Scratches covered her arms and legs and a bruise had formed under her left eye, causing it to go purple.  
Zoey huffed to herself as she wrapped up her arm, using a blade of glass to cut the bandage once she'd wrapped it tight.

Zoey jumped back hearing a shout from outside the saferoom. She stumbled back and grabbed the table with her arms to steady herself. Zoey turned to the door and wobbled over to it. Putting her fingers through the bars she peered through the gaps. Seeing nothing but dead bodies lying across the floor... Then she saw Bill's body. Lifeless on the floor, surrounded by dead infected. His face was covered in scratches.. Under him was a puddle of his own scarlet blood.  
Zoey's eyes softened sadly looking at him. She went to pull the door handle down, when it wouldn't move, she remembered that Bill had used a chair to keep it from opening.

The girl turned to the opposite wall where the next door was, this door exposed a short alley which led into a grove of trees and bushes. She took a samurai sword from the desk to use as her melee weapon.  
Taking a short look at some of the messages written across the walls, Zoey pulled the next door handle and walked out into the daylight...

The light stung her eyes at first, until her pupils shrank and became accustomed to the new sparse of light emitting from the sun. Zoey walked with more energy than she thought she had, into the trees, following a mud trail which seemed to take her the right way. For some reason the past days events were at the back of Zoey's mind and she couldn't cry anymore.. Even mourning for Bill who she had grown so attached to she was unable to shed even one tear. Her mouth was dry, she listened around for any movement of the infected but it was like they had disappeared from this area. Zoey licked her dry lips and looked around realising she had been in the grove for a long time now.  
She heard a rustling of leaves, Zoey quickly turned and held the samurai sword up in front of her.  
A grumble sort of noise came from the trees and Zoey straightened up, looking around. She saw a tree branch swing and a boomer stormed out grumbling as it stomped across the mud. Zoey gasped under her breath and put out her foot to kick it back, as the boomer wobbled backwards it grumbled angrily. Zoey ran backwards and took the rifle from her back. Shooting a couple of rounds at the boomer as it approached her.  
The boomer exploded spraying her with sickly green puke making it impossible to see and harder to hear.  
Zoey felt infected crowd around her, she slung her gun back behind her and took the samurai sword, swinging it left and right, slicing through the infected bodies. Her eyes finally focused and her ears rang. Kicking away another common infected she pushed her sword into its chest. Pulling it back out as the body went limp. Zoey realised she had gone in a circle as the horde attacked her whilst she was at her weakest being covering in boomer puke. She examined her surroundings and made her way back onto the mud trail which led across the grove.

Once Zoey reached the edge of the grove she noticed a huge field layout in front of her. The fields led off into the distance and were stopped by a forest which stood in the fog ahead. Zoey sighed, knowing her only choice was to follow the fields into the forest. She walked towards the fence which separated the grove from the first field and gripped the side, pulling herself over. She lowered herself onto the other side and let go of the fence leaving her palms red which the pressure applied.  
Stumbling at first on the hilly green she began to walk up the field. Hanging back by the bushes which ran along-side the first field. The fields stretched up to wear the forest remained in the distance. Zoey pushed a brown strand of hair behind her ear and let out a held in cough. Strangely enough no infected seemed to be lurking on the fields.. They hadn't gone over the fence. Zoey took this time to reflect on the past events. Although she had lost so much over the past few days she still couldn't cry. Zoey ran her index finger up her sleeve and along her arm where the long cut remained. She winced remembering how she got it. The night before from the hunter.. Bill gave up his own life to get her to the saferoom.  
This scratch was the one she'd forgotten to bandage that morning. The red scratch was slightly scabbed over as it was shielded by her pink jacket. Zoey took her hand away as she felt a slight sting, rolling her sleeve back down and flexing her wrist before picking up the pace slightly as she walked across the field.

The sun was high in the sky, which told her it was almost midday. There wasn't really any wind... Although a mist had formed in front of the forest, it was harder to make out whether the forest actually led her anywhere. But that seemed to be the only option as she needed to find other survivors. If there were any...

Zoey reached the trees at the edge of the field and slumped down in the grass to rest. She panted softly and pushed her hair back. Her heart beat was slowing down and it soon went back to its normal pace. She rose from the ground and brushed off her jeans before taking her gun and slinging the sword over her back, walking through the mist she noticed the light dim as she entered the forest. The shade of the huge branches hanging above her created a supernatural presence around her. She past through the trees at a normal pace, being careful of where her feet tread. Around her she noticed some of the mud was deeper, her shoes were soon covered in a layer of black mud, sending a bitter chill into her ankles.

She saw a clearing in the distance and trenched towards it. The sky wasn't in sight as she looked up seeing only tree branches above her. Zoey flexed her wrist again causing a sharp click to climb up her veins from her wrist.  
She came closer to the clearing and stopped hearing a murmur up ahead. Zoey stepped back slightly and her breathing picked up. She heard a gun load which made her green eyes flicker around the setting. Zoey continued to step further back as she heard the murmurs getting closer. A few footsteps echoed on what sounded like concrete and she expected a horde to come charging towards her... Or worse, a tank.  
Zoey ducked down into the grass and shuffled backwards slowly, keeping her eyes on the clearing in front of her.  
Then Zoey heard a voice...  
"Ellis, sweetie, could we save this for another time?"It was a woman's voice which brought Zoey to stumble backwards again.  
"Its actually a very interesting story.. It was the year my dad brought me my own tractor."A mans voice spoke in a hill-billy accent.  
Zoey was about to move out into the clearing when she noticed a high pitched sob echo around behind her. She turned seeing she was about a footstep away from a witch...


	4. Miracle

The witch wailed as Zoey gasped under her fast breath. She tried to step away only to stumble again making even more noise than she did before she saw the sobbing girl. The witches moans grew louder and her eyes shimmered orange. Her sharp canine-like teeth seemed terrifying to Zoey as she shuffled backwards on the mud trail. The witch stood and screamed, and then Zoey heard another murmur from the clearing.  
"Witch!"The same woman's voice called out from beyond the trees.  
Zoey decided that it was best not to run out into the open through the clearing as the passing people would shoot her down like any other infected. Zoey carefully stood as the witch grew angrier, it waved its arms up, wailing in the misty air. The witch staggered forward and scratched at Zoey's arm, causing the girl to let out a held in scream and start running through the few trees before the clearing. Zoey stumbled as she reached the edge of the muddy trail and tripped over her own feet on the concrete. She saw four figures a few paces away from her and a bullet flew past her feet, pounding into the ground and she gasped and she felt a supernatural force pulling at her chest making it difficult to breath. Zoey fell onto the concrete, her eyes begged to close for a moment but she pushed back onto her palms. Gripping tightly to her rifle she shot back hitting the witch, then she felt something wrap around her arm and she was dragged backwards by a strong rope-like tongue...another smoker.  
Zoey screamed as the smoker dragged her and the witch chased her swinging its claws around, scratching at her shins as she kicked away.  
She noticed the four people she had passed shooting at the witch as it attacked. Then Zoey glanced up, seeing a tall man holding an axe above his head, Zoey forced her eyes shut and prayed for a miracle. Then she heard him swing it downwards...  
After a few seconds past Zoey's eyes opened slightly, she saw the axe in the ground, which had severed the smoker's tongue where it lay around Zoey's arm. The witch had been shot down and was sprawled across the ground beside her feet. Her eyes fluttered...Almost shutting permanently until she felt two hands grip her arms and pull her up.

Zoey wobbled at first and was caught in strong arms around her. She had no choice but to allow herself to be held up. She managed to focus on the other three as they approached, examining her.  
"You look pretty shaken up darling, are you alright?"An overweight dark skinned man asked coming closer.  
"I- I, we... I... I lost my friends..."Zoey stuttered.  
"Well, where did you lose them?"The woman asked raising an eyebrow.  
"No... I mean... _Lost _them."Zoey choked because of how sore her throat was at that point.  
A tall man in a suit turned his attention from Zoey to the other woman and shot her a glare as if to say "stupid bitch." Then he turned back to Zoey, his eyes softened slightly.  
"You know where you're heading?"He questioned.  
"Just.. Just out of here.."Zoey coughed before trying to stand enough to see who was holding her up. She caught a glimpse of fluffy brown hair and blue eyes before she tiredly staggered again and was once again, caught by the fluffy-haired man.  
"Alrighty then, we should keep moving..it'll be dark in a few hours."The man in the white suit said signalling for the group to follow him as he walked up the road.  
Zoey carefully stabled herself and forced the mans hands from her shoulders, she limped slightly as she attempted to follow the three as they walked away. The man that had held her up remained, walking beside her with his arms out ready in case she fell again.  
"Urm...thanks for.. The smoker thing."Zoey managed to say in a croaky voice.  
"Oh, don't thank me miss, if anything I should thank you for giving me an excuse to kill that bastard with my axe."He grinned a little too happily.  
Zoey didn't reply, she only continued walking up the road after the others.  
"I'm Ellis by the way."He said after he realised no reply was coming.  
"Zoey, I'm Zoey."She spoke tiredly.  
"Nice to meet you Zoey."He said cheerfully holding out his hand for a hand shake.. Zoey attempted to meet his hand but only stumbled again tiredly.  
"Sorry, I guess I just need a long rest."She admitted.  
"No worry's darlin'."He smiled, taking her arm and putting it around his neck to help her along.

"Ellis, would you cut the chit-chat and hurry the fuck up?"Nick snapped from where he was shooting a few common infected which lurked across the road.  
Ellis rolled his eyes and shook his head,  
"That's Nick..."Ellis began, pointing to the white suited man beside the overweight dark-skinned man.  
"He's coach."Ellis told her,  
"And she's Rochelle."He finished.  
"So you all know each other?"Zoey wondered.  
"Oh, no.. I ran into Rochelle and Nick when I was running from a tank, then we found coach fighting off a horde in the middle of town."Ellis explained.  
Zoey's eyes seemed to be trying to shut as she walked up the road with Ellis's help, luckily for her Ellis had taken on at least half of her weight so she was able to move along slightly quicker.  
"So...Zoey, what happened to your friends?"Ellis asked after a few minutes of complete silence.  
Zoey carefully pushed away gently and began walking along the road independently.  
"I don't really feel like talking about it.."She said quietly.  
"I understand."Ellis smiled at her trying to make her feel more comfortable with the tension which remained with her in the group.

Zoey sighed and staggered on the road, pulling her gun back, loading it and then aiming into the distance and shooting down a common infected.  
Ellis gasped a little under his breath at the way she shot a zombie through the mist from this distance.  
"You know how to use a gun."Ellis started a conversation again.  
"You need to know how to use a gun when you have an apocalypse to get through."She said blankly.  
"You're acting very fenced off.. Are you sure you don't want to tell me about your friends?"Ellis asked in a caring tone as they caught up with this others.  
"No Ellis, I don't."She said, tears forming in her green eyes again.  
"Alright guys look out ahead; we're coming to a bridge."Nick called from the front.  
"Why must we watch out? It's not like a troll is going to jump out from under that god forsaken bridge and eat us."Coach chuckled.  
"No but that will..."Nick said pointing out towards the bridge to where a small creature crawled towards them quickly, its back bare and covered in scratches. It made a strange wailing sound, like the witch, only lower in pitch and more of a happy wailing than a sob.  
"Jockey.."Ellis muttered only loud enough for Zoey to hear.  
Zoey stopped puzzled as she hadn't come into contact with this type of infected before. Maybe it was because of the different areas, and maybe these infected creatures didn't climb over the fences on the fields past the forest.  
Zoey snapped back to reality hearing a voice call out and Rochelle stumble backwards with the jockey clinging onto her face with its clawed hands. It wailed happily as it rode the woman. Rochelle continued to scream in pain as her skin was torn across her face as the jockey held on tightly.  
"Shoot it off!"She shouted as blood began to drip from her face onto the ground as she was dragged along by the jockeys force.  
Coach followed her as she was controlled by the jockey and attempted to shoot it, missing a number of times as he tried not to shoot Rochelle.  
Nick did the same but to no avail, Ellis wiped his hands on his baggy jeans, ridding them of sweat before charging towards Rochelle holding his axe up above his head, one clean swing took the Jockey's head right off and its arms went limp around Rochelle's neck, falling backwards onto the concrete.  
Rochelle groaned and held her face in her hands as the pain crawled around her cheek bones, nose and forehead.  
"Oh, crap."Nick muttered seeing how badly scratched Rochelle's face was.

Zoey winced in horror as Nick took Rochelle's hands from her face which exposed a mess of destruction and her hands were covered in scarlet blood.  
She sobbed in pain and even more so when her salty tears collided with the cuts causing her face to sting and her eyes to fill with more tears. Her left eye was hardly visible anymore under the skin and blood.  
Ellis walked back to Zoey after pulling his axe back over his shoulder.  
Zoey was still registering the woman's face and how the monster had pretty much destroyed her face.  
Ellis put a hand on her shoulder to try and grab her attention without startling her.  
"Is there anything I can do?"Zoey asked gesturing to Rochelle.  
"Ya'll wouldn't happen to be carrying any medical equipment?"He said biting his bottom lip.  
Zoey's eyes widened and she took her gaze away from Rochelle, looking down to her jeans pocket.  
She pushed her hand inside her pocket and pulled out a pot of pills.  
"Would these help?"She asked offering the pills to Ellis.  
"They'd at least numb the pain."He smiled in appreciation and took the pills, going over to Nick and handing him them as he attempted to clean the blood from Rochelle's face.  
Coach stood watching the sky as the sun began to lower behind the trees in the west.  
"We have got to get movin'."He said to the others.  
"Alright, I'm almost done."Nick said applying another bandage to Rochelle's face.  
Rochelle looked dreadful, her face was still stained with blood and her left eye was covered by a bloody bandage.. It seemed to be hopeless that she'd see through that eye again.  
Zoey didn't know what to do, she took the time they had to help Rochelle and gave herself time to rest. Maybe that would help her regain her balance when walking.  
"Okay guys, let's go."Nick said setting off again, this time he left the road and climbed over a short wall into a grassy area which led to an alley.  
The survivors followed him and climbed over the wall, Zoey seemed to have developed a new boost of energy as she walked after Nick being closely followed by Ellis.  
"Do you guys smell that?"Coach asked after a while of walking in silence.  
"What now? Doughnuts? Burgers?"Nick teased. Coach straightened his shoulders and bitch please glared at Nick  
"I'm tired of this conversation."Coach said. Nick chuckled as they walked through the alley. The survivors seemed to be walking in twos...well, other than Rochelle. Nick and Coach took the lead as they walked. Ellis and Zoey were not too far behind, glancing back every now and then to check the alley. Rochelle was in between the four... Walking along while she held one hand to her left eye which was hidden under a white, blood-stained bandage.

"Look, up ahead."Coach called, pointing to a one floor building which spread across a large area.  
"Of course Coach finds notices the food."Ellis mumbled, Zoey was the only one who heard and breathed an almost silent laugh, receiving a smile from Ellis. The survivors crossed the road, shooting down a few of the common infected before they reached the building. They came to the automatic door which seemed to be jammed by a shopping trolley which had been put between the doors, leaving the automatic doors shutting repeatedly to try and meet at the middle.  
Nick went first, climbing over the trolley into the shop. The others followed without hesitation.  
Ellis came over last, stumbling by mistake over the trolley and accidentally pushing the trolley into the shop causing the doors to shut quickly. He carefully stabled himself and reached up above the doors to push a green button which would shut off the automatic doors.  
Turning back to the others he noticed Nick was shaking his head at him in a tired fashion. Coach had already disappeared up an aisle looking for food.  
"Oh my god guys I found beef jerky!"Coach shouted a little too loudly.  
Then his smile faded hearing a sob and then a wailing beside him. Coach turned seeing a witch at the end of the aisle rising from the floor and holding her craws up angrily.  
"Holy shit!"He called before running backwards up the aisle, shooting at the witch. This captured the other survivor's attentions and they came to help. Nick gripped a can of hairspray from a nearby shelf and ran up behind the witch as she chased coach. He pulled the cap off and threw it, spraying continuously into the witches orange eyes. The girl screamed and shook her arms about as she was no longer able to see. Coach stopped and ran forwards pushing a blade into the witches' stomach, repeating this a few times until the witches screams died down and she went limp as the coach stabbed her again. Yanking the blade from her stomach and dropping the bloody blade on the floor.  
"Go eat your jerky beefy."Nick sighed throwing the hairspray can on the floor where it rolled under a stand.  
"Is that another wise crack about my weight smart ass?"Coach grumbled tearing the slip on the jerky and eating a strand of it.  
"Just keep it down."Nick said blankly.  
"I will.. Now that I have my jerky."He said with a mouthful of beef.

Zoey sat on a barbeque bag which had been slumped across the ground; she leant back on a stand and twisted the bandage which was tied around her right arm.  
"What's up with her?"Nick asked walking up to Ellis who was cleaning his axe with a cloth that he'd found on the aisle.  
"The girls tired, she's been through a lot."Ellis told him.  
"Make sure she eats something before she sleeps... She looks rather pale."Nick mentioned.  
"Since when are you caring Nick?"Ellis teased.  
"Not caring, I just don't want her to slow us down tomorrow."He told him clearly before walking out the aisle.  
Ellis grabbed a packet of chips and walked back to Zoey who was drifting off to sleep already.  
"Hey."He said sitting down beside her.  
Zoey's eyes widened and she swung her hand out hitting Ellis in the face,  
"Oh.. Sorry.. I thought-"  
"Its fine."He smiled holding out the bag to her.  
"What's this?"She asked sitting up straight.  
"Eat em', then you're free to sleep."He told her.  
"I'm not hungry."She said turning away and pushing a strand of hair behind her ear.  
"I understand you've had a rough couple o'days m'am, but you gotta eat."Ellis said softly.  
Zoey's dark green eyes admired the taller man's face, his fluffy brown hair which stuck out slightly under his hat. Kind, glassy blue eyes. A small cut on his forehead which had scabbed over in a dark scarlet colour. Ellis' eyes caught Zoey's and she quickly hung her head down to shield the rose colour growing on her cheeks. Ellis smiled to himself and sat up straight, still holding the bag of chips towards Zoey.  
She eventually brought her eyes back up and took the bag from Ellis' hand.

Meanwhile...

Nick was pacing up each aisle aimlessly, Coach followed far behind him chewing on beef jerky. Nicks white suit had been splattered with scarlet blood and bile. His dark eyes looked tired and his forehead was dotted with sweat. He scanned along the shop checking for any infected. Then something stopped him. He heard a sob and stepped back, putting his arm out to stop Coach too.  
"Do you hear that?"He whispered.  
Coach swallowed the piece of jerky and looked around as he listened.  
"That can't be another witch..."He sighed quietly.  
"That's not a witch-"Rochelle's voice joined them as she came up behind Nick wearing a clean white bandage over her left eye.


	5. Franklin

Coach and Nick stood confused before leaning out past the aisle and seeing what Rochelle meant...  
It was a boy. Dark blonde hair and piercing blue eyes which were filled with tears. Coach walked out first and approached the boy slowly, trying not to startle him. The boy's eyes shot up as the tall man stepped closer, he made a nervous noise before standing and running up the other aisle.  
"Hey, calm down kid, we aint gonna hurt ya."Nick said loudly to catch the boys attention.  
The blonde boy stopped and grabbed a jar of jam from where he stood on the corner of an aisle.. Running across the store he made it to the aisle Zoey and Ellis were on.. Zoey had fallen asleep and Ellis was drifting off too.  
Nick came running round the other side to cut him off, when the boy threw the jar towards him causing a loud smash to echo around them. Zoey jolted awake and Ellis looked around in confusion.  
"Someone calm that kid down."Nick snapped pulling a small piece of glass from his leg which had come from the jam jar.  
"Son of a bitch."Nick muttered, tending to his leg. Zoey rose from where she sat on the barbeque bag and went after the kid as he ran off again through the store.  
He came to a dead end as he reached the alcohol aisles.  
"Hey, hey, calm down, it's alright. I won't hurt you."Zoey cooed, trying to calm the boy.  
The small boy eventually stopped moving and stood to face Zoey, his chest moving back and forth as his heart beated fast.  
"It's alright; I'm Zoey..."She told him as she walked slowly up to him.  
"Have you seen my brother?"The boy spoke.  
"We haven't, sorry. We can help you find him though."Zoey said kindly.  
"I'm Franklin."He said quietly.  
"Nice to meet you. Are you hurt?"Zoey asked.  
The boy didn't answer, he only held out his arm which had a cut going up to his elbow in it.  
Zoey made it to the boy and held out her hand to him, she turned to walk him back to the medical gear when she saw the other four watching her.  
"This kid needs a bandage on his arm."She told them trying to get across to them that watching her try to console the boy wasn't appreciated.  
Nick walked up to the boy taking a bandage in his hand and carefully wrapping it around the boys arm.  
"I can take it from here; you guys go get some rest."Nick told them as he bandaged Franklins arm.

Ellis smiled as Zoey walked back over to him and they walked back to the barbeque bags where they slumped down, Zoey's eyes began to flutter and she soon fell asleep, closely followed by Ellis. The other survivors fell asleep soon after as the night grew darker and the air stood still...

...The next day...

Zoey woke up; her eyes wide after the previous nights dream about Bill and the others. She felt something warm on her arm, looking down she saw Franklin holding tightly to her as if for his life, he was in a deep peaceful sleep. Zoey carefully detached the boy from her and laid him across the barbeque bags before standing and stretching her arms, feeling a pain in her ribs as she did so. She pulled her jacket and shirt a little exposing a purple bruise across her rib cage. She pulled her jacket back over it and walked up the aisle.  
"Where you goin'?"Nick's voice spoke behind her.  
"I'm thirsty...Do you have a problem with that?"She wondered.  
"Why would I?"He asked standing and walking towards her.  
"Well yesterday you seemed pretty stubborn about even taking me with you."She brought up.  
"I said no such thing."He raised an eyebrow.  
"You think I'll slow you down."She said quietly, looking down at the ground.  
"You're injured right?"Nick said waiting for her to nod in agreement, which she slowly did.  
"The fact that the rest of your gang are all dead tells me you guys couldn't have been too bright."Nick fought.  
"How dare you."Zoey snapped.  
"I'm just making a point."He raised his hands above his head in defence.  
"It's a stupid point. You should watch what you say."She told him.  
"Once you learn to walk alone."He smirked.  
"I spent yesterday walking through fields and that god forsaken forest just to get here... That was after I watched my friends die. And you think I can't walk alone."Zoey's eyes narrowed.  
"Hey, guys, what's going on?"Ellis asked staggering towards them as he'd only just woken up.  
"This little princess won't accept that she's a burden on all of us."Nick sighed.  
"Don't call me princess prick...oh sorry, I meant Nick."She bit her bottom lip trying to hold in her anger.  
"Oh girl please."Nick shook his head.  
"Come on guys, don't fight. We're meant to be a team. Now.. CEDA sent out a radio signal telling us that they'll be at Westerville centre for ten tonight."Ellis told them.  
"How do you find out this shit farm boy?"Nick huffed dramatically.  
"Don't you remember the mall with the announcements from them? CEDA were listing pick up points."Ellis reminded him.  
"You're memories too good kid."Nick sighed walking back towards Coach and Rochelle who were waking up.  
Zoey rolled her eyes at Nick's immaturity and started walking down the aisle again to get a drink.  
"You alright miss?"Ellis asked walking after her.  
"I'm fine, thank you Ellis."She said.  
"Don't take what he says to heart, he's a bastard to everyone."Ellis smiled kindly.  
"Yes I've caught on. He seemed to be nice enough with Franklin though."Zoey said taking a can of cola from the shelf and opening it.  
"He probably reminds him of his nephew..."Ellis told her taking a can of cola for himself.  
"What happened to his nephew?"Zoey wondered.  
"He was turned, Nick had to kill him."Ellis' voice went quieter as he spoke into more detail.  
"Oh...now his constant mood makes more sense."Zoey sighed.  
"Its no excuse for him to act the way he does, we've all lost people we care about."Ellis said taking a sip from his can of cola.  
"Who did you lose?"Zoey wondered.  
"My best friend Keith. I watched him die with my own eyes...'Cause I had to kill him."Ellis looked down at the floor as he remembered what happened...

_*The dark night whispered in through the cracks in the barn and Ellis and Keith sat on the top wood planks which overlooked the barn. It was freezing but they had no choice but to stay there for the night. The scratching at the barn door had stopped, leaving Keith and Ellis feeling a little less weary. The two hadn't noticed the large gap in the room on the top of the barn. As an infected pushed itself onto the room and lowered itself inside behind the two boys. The infected creature was silent behind them as it approached. Ellis heard the hay behind them shuffle and turned, but it was already too late. The infected creature gripped Keith's shirt and dragged him backwards, clawing at his skin and then biting into his arm. Keith screamed as the creatures sharp teeth sunk into his skin. Ellis took the axe from the hay pile and severed the zombies head from its shoulders. Keith held his neck as the venom spread through his veins... Both he and Ellis knew there was nothing to stop him turning. Keith told Ellis what he expected him to do but how could he just kill his best friend?  
Keith's voice began to slur and he immediately gestured the axe to Ellis. He stepped back until he was as far away from Ellis as possible in the barn. Ellis soon noticed more infected shaking at the barn door again and he quickly climbed down the ladder from the top wooden planks, holding his axe in his right hand. Anger rose in his heart realising he had already lost his best friend and he pulled open the barn doors. The infected creatures clambered in and swarmed around Ellis as he swung his axe around slicing limps. Then Keith climbed down from the top wooden planks, staggering towards Ellis, his eyes had gone a glassy blue which almost appeared white. He went to claw at Ellis' arm when he swung back and sliced through his stomach. Ellis turned realising he'd gone right through him like any other zombie. Keith's eyes met Ellis' and his pale face chilling Ellis' body and sending bitter shivers through his veins as he watched the life drain from the only colour left in Keith's face. Ellis exhaled deeply and attempted to console himself as his whole world slowed down for a moment while he watched Keith's body slam against the wooden barn floor, lying lifeless, surrounded by hay. Ellis snapped back to reality as he felt teeth sink into his arm. He yelled and swung his axe up severing its head from its body. Ellis' anger was now boiling in his blood and pushing to be let out. He forced his anger to stay contained but it caused him to almost steam at his ears. The night was still at bay and the zombies continued to swarm in. Ellis swung his axe around angrily as he made it out the barn into the field. After he began to feel the weight of energy loss on his shoulders he hit the last few zombies away and started to run through the field as the night grew above him.  
"Ellis?"*_

Ellis came back to reality and saw Zoey mouthing his name opposite him.  
"Oh, sorry...I was just thinking."He said a little nervously.  
"Its fine, what happened to Keith?"Zoey asked him.  
Ellis straightened up and sipped his can of cola,  
"I don't really like talkin' about it."He bit his bottom lip and gave her an honest look.  
"Oh...sorry."She said softly.  
"Ellis."A man's voice said from behind them. The two turned seeing Nick who was slightly taller than Ellis stood in front of them, dark eyes still looking tired.  
"We're going to set the fire alarms off in this place. Try and gather the bastards in here so we can blow this place sky high."He told them.  
"Then where would we go?"Ellis asked him.  
"We'll make our way to Westerville centre, that's where the CEDA pick-up point is right?"He waited for an agreement receiving a quick nod from Ellis he continued.  
"If you're comin' with us... You should probably take this."Nick said holding out a frying pan to Zoey with a slight smirk.  
"Sexist bitch."She snapped shoving it into his chest hard and walking off down the aisle.  
Ellis shot a glare at Nick to say piss off before following her.


	6. Born for this

The sky was pink and purple as the orange sun rose above the trees. The atmosphere in the store seemed cold and empty. The group stood facing the door. Zoey on the far right holding the samurai sword and her heavy rifle slung across her back. Franklin stood slightly behind her and to her right, with a bag slung over his shoulder, obviously containing supplies, a baseball bat also held up under his arm. Ellis stood beside him holding his axe in his right hand and a canister of gasoline in his left. Coach was next to him loading his double-barrel shotgun. Rochelle had changed her bandage over her eye again and held a frying pan in her hands facing the glass door as they watched the common infected stagger by. Nick was stood across from them, hand on the fire alarm, in his other had was a baseball bat and on his back hung a heavy rifle.  
"I remember one time me and Keith were on our way to the autumn harvest festival by the lake, we got poison ivy all over our-"  
"Okay farm boy, we've heard enough."Rochelle interrupted causing Ellis to step to the side slightly to send a quick glance her.  
"Its a rather interesting story actually."He smiled to himself.  
Nick pulled down the fire alarm causing a siren to wail around the store, calls in the distance told them that the common infected was on its way.  
Ellis pushed the button above the automatic doors allowing them to open as the sensor was set off.  
The infected reached the door and they began swarming inside. Ellis pulled Franklin onto his shoulders and shoot at the zombies as they came at the door, triggering the sensor and opening the doors.  
Rochelle stood by the door hitting any with the frying pan if they came past the doors. Then coach called out to the others,  
"Smoker!"He yelled as the rope-like tongue shot towards Ellis, wrapping itself around Franklins chest it pulled him off of Ellis' shoulder and dragged him along the store floor.  
Zoey turned her attention from the common infected to where Franklin was, as he called out for help.  
Zoey shot up at the smoker hitting it a few times. Then she heard Ellis shout  
"Zoey, duck!"  
She did as he said and crouched on the ground as an axe flew over her and sliced the smoker's head off causing it to fall backwards and hit the ground.  
Franklin still have the smoker's tongue wrapped around his shoulders, Zoey rose from where she had crouched and ran to pull it off of him.  
"Ellis, pipe bomb this shit hole!"Nick shouted from the doors as he fired round after round into the swarms of zombies. Ellis took his eyes away from Zoey and Franklin and pulled a pipe bomb from his pocket. He carefully set it and threw it towards the back of the store. It beeped as it flew through the air, landing by a stand and rolling under the bottom shelf. The common infected horded towards it, running past Zoey, Franklin and Ellis as the beeping became higher pitched signalling that it was about to go up.  
Ellis ran forward and grabbed Zoey who was helping Franklin and pulled her carefully out of the reaching point of the explosion. The bomb went off sending the infected's limbs around the store. Franklin, Zoey and Ellis were thrown forwards hitting the ground harshly as the explosion hit them.  
Ellis' head hit the ground as he tried to stop Zoey and Franklin from doing so, he groaned as he propped himself up on his elbows feeling a warm substance trickling down his head, he wiped a hand over his forehead and brought his hand back, stained with dark red blood. He shook off the dizzy feeling and stood helping Franklin to his feet and gesturing for him to get to the doors with Zoey. He staggered after them holding his hand to his bleeding head.

Nick was attempting to get the group out the doors as he lit a molotov and held it up above his head ready to throw. Rochelle and Coach had already made it out and were charging through the layer of zombies which hung outside the store like a mass of destruction. Ellis caught up with Zoey as she helped Franklin towards the door. He pushed his axe onto his back again and pulled off his shotgun, loading it quickly and firing at the infected which blocked their way. Zoey swung her samurai sword through the horde as screams filled her store once Nick through the molotov, setting light to the surrounding zombies.  
"Spitter!"Rochelle yelled from where she stood beside a row of shopping trolleys outside the store.  
Zoey, Ellis and Franklin made it out and went to help Coach and Rochelle fight off the other infected creatures.  
Nick finally escaped the store followed by a cloud of black smoke; he choked as it filled his lungs with a black covering which set off his cough.  
"Straight down this road!"Nick choked through the smoke.  
The others began to battle through the field of zombies and down the main road. The sky was dark with cloud although it was only late morning.  
As the crowds of zombies began to die down the survivors were feeling their aching limbs. Rochelle was groaning as her eye stung underneath her bandage again, the red substance grew leaving her bandage stained scarlet. Then a roar came from the left causing the survivors to stop and turn towards where the road was cut off by a short fence and a sparse of green where a few trees stood.  
The wind whipped back and forced the survivors to step back to hold their ground. Zoey's hair flew back as she held tightly onto Franklin's hand.  
"Oh shit."Coach huffed seeing the shield-like skin and huge body mass.  
The huge creature staggered up to the road and dug its fists into the concrete. Ellis took the first shot, but as the bullet hit its skin it bounced right back and onto the concrete. Shards of glass scattered across the ground as the store finally went up in flames, smoke gathered around them and Zoey lost her grip on Franklin's hand. The group ran, down the road as fast as their aching legs could carry them, though the day was only young the darkness crept into their hearts. Another roar echoed around and bounced wave to wave of sound as it hit each object and past thought the black ash and smoke. Hitting the ground Zoey's eyes glowed green, she wiped the ash from her cheek and rose to search for Franklin and this others. But as the tank crashed towards her she had no choice but to run. Feeling a tight grip on her arm she screamed, turning to see the emotionless face which belonged to Nick. He held in his hand another molotov and Zoey began to question in her thoughts as to how me managed to be in possession of so many bombs. Holding it high above his head he threw it forward, lighting the tanks shield-like skin like gasoline...His eyes were screaming pain and he grumbled in annoyance, lighting up the area with the flames engulfing the tank Zoey and Nick were able to make out a troubled Rochelle as she hacked through a crowd of common infected, using one arm to hit them away with her axe and another to hold the bandage to her eye as it peeled of painfully. Nick rushed to her aid, shooting the zombies away and gesturing for her to run up the main road. Ellis, Franklin and Coach were no longer in sight and Zoey began to panic. She shot a few dozen rounds into the burning tank and it fell abruptly onto the concrete with a sickly thud.

"Ellis?!"She called out looking around in the thick ash for the others.

"Franklin?!"

"Coach?"

"Save it sweet cheeks, we'll meet 'em at Westerville centre...We can't miss this CEDA pick-up point..."Nick said tugging at her arm to get her to follow him and Rochelle up the main road.

"We can't just leave them."Zoey told him, stopping in the middle of the road and waiting for Nick to respond.

"Listen princess...do you wanna get out of this shit hole alive or not?"He asked. Zoey remained silent and only shot him a glare.

"If we can get to that pick-up point...Even without the others. We can tell CEDA that there are others still down here... So hush your gums and get moving."He explained going to walk up the road.

Zoey sighed, knowing she had failed...She could go looking for the others alone, but that was practically suicide out here as the town centre would be crawling with these bastards...Too bad her only company and protection would be a sassy one-eyed woman and a dick head...


	7. Decode

The sky began to fade and they had made it out of the line of fire. Ellis held Franklin tightly by the hand as he weighed through the mud which seemed to have come from nowhere. Coach lagged behind them, puffing tiredly and staggering through the mud. Franklin's dusty blonde hair had become full of ash making it look almost grey, his glassy blue eyes begged for mercy but he had to continue on as Ellis held onto his hand. "We need to look for the others."Ellis breathed deeply, feeling his muscles aching.  
"If Nicks with 'em, he would have wanted us to go on to Westerville centre. If we make our way there we're more likely to find 'em."Coach explained.  
"You're right Coach but him and Zoey don't exactly get along too well..."Ellis sighed helping Franklin onto a trail he'd found which led up to a road.

From the height of the sun it looked to be about 5 pm, meaning they had five hours to make it to Westerville centre before CEDA was meant to arrive.  
Ash was still floating around them, clogging up their throats with smoke.  
Ellis silently prayed for his friend's safety.

Meanwhile...

The other three were making their way through a warehouse, the building had a huge gap in the side where some sort of explosion had happened to create the hole.  
Zoey's eyes were fixated on a wall which stood separating two rooms, on the wall were scribbled messages.  
Rochelle was scanning through the warehouse, finding a stash of ammunition by the gas tanks that spread up the right wall. The windows which displayed above the pipe were smashed and the brown glass lay across the ground. Nick was searching the stock rooms for anything useful, but to so avail. Then Zoey called to the others, grabbing their attention as she pointed towards one message on the wall.

...

Coach, Ellis and Franklin were making their way through Westerville as the sun faded behind the trees. Ellis and Coach flicked their torches on and carefully scanned through their surroundings. The street lights were flickering on and off as the light faded and the power glitched.  
Just as they began to relax on the walk up the street they heard a rumble and what sounded like a...burp.  
Coach turned from to where a few trees were angled off-centre and saw a boomer staggering towards them, gargling and sputtering as it came closer.  
Ellis loaded his shotgun and angled it towards it, but before he could take the shot he felt Franklin being pulled away from him again, like in the store. A strong force wrapped around the small boy and pulled him away, dragging him roughly across the ground. Franklin screamed and kicked his legs out trying to get away. Ellis turned his attention to the smoker that had Franklin constricted by its tongue.  
"Seriously kid, these bitches have taken a liking to ya."Coach yelled as he ran to help.  
Ellis shot at the smoker's chest causing it to drag Franklin slower, allowing Coach to reach him and try to untangle the tongue from around his legs.  
Once the smoker hit the ground, bursting into ash and smoke, Franklin choked on the air as Coach pulled him up and into his strong arms.  
"Its alright bud, we gotcha."Coach cooed as the boy struggled in his grasp.  
Ellis turned around realising the boomer was still staggering towards them, but now it was a lot closer. Ellis hit the overweight infected creature back and quickly shot it before it was able to move back towards them.  
It dropped to the ground in a pool of green bile which stank, making the survivors heave.

...

Zoey read the message over and over again as the other two scanned the wall too. The message read;

**_'Franklin, I pray that you're alive and well. I'm on my way to Westerville centre...Stay safe and I hope to see you soon. -Drake._**

"Drake...that must be Franklin's brother."Zoey said to herself.  
"Brother? How do you know he has a brother?"Nick wondered.  
"Because Nick, I actually spoke to Franklin last night after you managed to scare him away."She explained.  
Nick shot Zoey a glare and loaded his gun easily.  
"Guys, check this out."Rochelle said from the other side of the warehouse where a small grey cabinate was open of the wall.  
"There's some sort of radio here...maybe we could try and contact CEDA."She said.  
Nick hurried over and took the voice box from Rochelle and held it to his mouth, pressing down the speak button.  
"Hello? Can anyone here me?"He spoke into the box,  
"Hello?"He said again before hearing muffled shouts through the box.

...

"What's that noise?"Ellis wondered turning around on the road noticing a noise coming from a car which had obviously broken down and been left.  
Coach followed him towards the car carrying Franklin.  
He heard a quiet voice coming through a walkie-talkie which was placed in the front by the steering wheel.  
Ellis pulled up the box and pushed the speak button.  
"Hello?"Ellis said into the voice box.  
"Hello, can you hear me?"The voice spoke back.  
"Loud and clear bud."Ellis said.  
"Wait...Ellis?"The voice spoke in a confused tone.  
"Keith?!"He exclaimed.  
"No, no, Ellis, its Nick."  
"Nick, where are you? And where's Zoey and Rochelle?"Ellis wondered.  
"They're here. Where are you?"Nick asked.  
"I'm with Coach and Franklin. We're following the road, just like you said."Ellis said proudly.  
"Okay, we're in a warehouse about a half hour east from Westerville centre."Nick told him.  
"Wait Nick pass me the speaker..."Ellis heard Zoey say from the other side.  
"Ellis, ask Franklin if his brother's name is Drake."Zoey told Ellis clearly.  
"Okay miss."Ellis agreed kindly before turning to Coach who was still holding Franklin.  
"They found him?"Franklin asked having already heard Zoey's message.  
"We found a message from your brother; he's heading towards Westerville centre."Zoey explained.  
Franklin's glassy eyes lit up happily, freeing himself from Coaches grasp and jumped joyfully.  
"Okay, we better be on our way m'am."Ellis said.  
"You're right. We'll see you at the centre."Zoey replied before a light buzzing echoed into Ellis' ear telling him that she put the speaker back into its holder.

...

Zoey turned to Nick and Rochelle.  
"What happened to the whole "you hang up first, no you hang up first."Nick mocked the typical 'couples' conversation.  
"Bitch please."Zoey sighed.  
"Okay guys, we better get a move on."Rochelle told them.  
The three made their way towards the huge gap in the wall which they used as their way out, leading them down an alley onto a road.

Ellis and Coach exchanged glances as they continued up the road. Until something growled behind them making them turn quickly shooting Ellis accidentally shot a truck making the alarms go off and a distant horde to call out as they were attracted to the sound. Coach shot at the growling creature that was crawling towards them. It was a hunter and it pounced over Coach, pinning him to the ground. Franklin screamed and Ellis shot it off of him, helping Coach back to his feet they saw the monstrous horde racing towards them.

...

Zoey, Nick and Rochelle were now walking up a twisted street trying to make their way to Westerville centre, when they heard something stumble, and a light curse. This turned their attention to a dark alley up ahead. They quietly and cautiously made their way towards the alley and peered into the darkness...  
Hearing footsteps the survivors were taken back a little, Nick pointed his gun straight at whatever was emitting the sound. The footsteps became louder and Rochelle loaded her gun, making enough noise to stop the footsteps.  
"Who's there?"The voice spoke from the darkness.  
"We're survivors...immune to infection."Nick said clearly.  
"Oh..."The voice was male, maybe in his early 20's or late teenage years.  
They came through the alley out of the darkness letting the three see him.  
Blondy-brown hair and the same glassy blue eyes Zoey had seen before, on Franklin.  
"Drake?"


	8. Renegade

"How do you know my name?"The tall man asked walking fully out of the alley and into the light.  
"We found you're brother, Franklin."Zoey told him.  
"Franklin? Where is he? Is he alright?"Drake asked in a rushed voice.  
"He's fine. But we got separated from our group earlier."Nick explained lowering his gun from Drake.  
"Separated...So how do you know he's okay?"Drake questioned.  
"Come on, cut the chit-chat let's get going to Westerville centre.. We'll meet the others there."Nick told them.  
Drake seemed to be without any source of protection so Zoey gave him her gun, leaving herself with the samurai sword and a pistol.

...

"Holy shit."Ellis muttered, gripping Franklins wrist and tugging him backwards, Coach followed close behind as the horde emerged from all angles...The car siren continued to holler through the streets, sound waves bouncing off walls and hitting the ear drums of the infected creatures. The two men shot rounds back as they ran up the road.  
The horde approached and soon they heard howls which brought the survivors to an abrupt stop...

"Was that...dogs?"Coach wondered turning quickly to Ellis.  
"Surely not."Ellis replied panting, he reloaded his shotgun and wiped his hand on his jeans to rid it of sweat so he could grip to Franklins hand again before running up the road.  
The howls grew louder and the horde reached them swarming around them like a cloud of demons sucking the life from what was left in them, devouring their souls with a single touch of their icy claws.  
"Whoa!"Coach yelled being smashed into by a huge charger; it took him across the road and plunged him into the ground. His head crashed into the pavement and he screamed in agony. The chargers pushed his fist further into Coaches rib cage and forced his back to break the concrete. He felt as though his spine was shattering and his neck was being snapped again and again with even more pain shuddering through his body with each pound into the concrete. Ellis ran towards him, shooting the charger as it broke every bone in Coach's body. The monster roared as the bullets pierced its skin.  
Franklin stood in the middle of the road with a pistol shooting towards the horde with low accuracy and speed, knocking only a few zombies down.  
The charger finally plunged to the ground and Ellis fell on his knees beside Coach as he saw his friends body covered in blood, bruises and cuts. His brown eyes were the only way of identification now as the rest of his body had been smashed up so badly.  
Ellis' attention was pulled back when Franklin screamed and ran towards Ellis. He stood again to face the boy seeing boomer bile covering the small boy in a green coating of cat-nip for zombies.  
"Crap."Ellis mumbled picking up the boy and putting him over his shoulder. He pulled his gun back to reload it and shot quickly at the horde that began to surround him, attracted by the bile and the smell of fresh flesh.

Coach was now choking on the only blood he had left to roam through his veins, in his bodies attempt to keep him alive he lost feeling below his knees and in his finger-tips, the cold night dragged over him a pit pof darkness almost pulled him through the ground into the demons cage but the Cimmerian sky was no longer at bay... it had strung itself above the streets like a painting. The stars displayed around the scarlet clouds as the sun disappeared behind the trees.

Ellis gripped tighter to Franklin as he weighted through the lifeless zombies which lay across the road. A few still chased him, waving their arms about the air and clawing at Franklin who was on Ellis' shoulder. The bile had stained his clothes but had finally gone from his face. Coach was unable to move, he felt as though his own weight was a car and he wasn't able to lift it. His eyes grew tired and he attempted to keep his eyelids from connecting. Ellis' heart pounded as he made his way towards the pained man. Falling to his knees beside him he lowered Franklin down beside him and held him close to shield his innocent eyes from the mess that was Coach's body.

"Coach, I'm so sorry."Ellis said in a quiet, choked tone which told Coach he was near tears.

"Ellis...We had a good run, but sometimes you need to lose a few daisies before you find the rose."Coach attempted to smile, only to cough up more blood.

"So you're a daisy?"Ellis raised an eyebrow sarcastically, receiving a breathed laugh from Coach which made him smile.

"No farm boy...it's a metaphor. Boy, you're just some crazy asshole aren't ya?"He chuckled, losing more blood.

"Crazy enough to get myself lost with you."Ellis smiled.

"You better get goin' Ellis; you'll miss CEDA and Franklin's brother."Coach told him.

"But what about you?"Ellis asked.

"I'll go out in style my friend. Style."Coach gave a dazed smile before shooting another nearby car and starting off sirens again.  
"Coach, what the hell are you doing?!"Ellis yelled standing holding Franklin over his shoulder tightly.

"Ellis i want you to run, get out of here...And once you do I want you to create a brand of beef jerky for me."Coach smiled to himself. Ellis stepped back as he saw another horde clambering towards them.

"Sure thing bud, 'Coaches Beef Jerky'."Ellis presented raising an arm in triumph. Coach smiled at the younger mans action and loaded his gun easily.

"Now piss off out of here."He said in a caring but forceful tone.

"Lock and load..."He said to himself.

Ellis and Franklin were soon gone from sight, doing as Coach had told them and making their way towards Westerville centre. The horde was almost at him when he aimed his gun at the crowd, pulling one last strip of beef jerky from his pocket and placing it in his bloody mouth.

"Come to papa bitches..."

...

"Do you guys here that?"Rochelle asked as the group stopped halfway up the street hearing a roar and a burst of bullets flying.

"The crazy bastards..."Nick huffed speeding up and running towards the sound. Emerging from the street corner onto the main road they saw bullets flying everywhere and zombies ambushing what seemed to be one particular area... A car alarm was sounding dramatically and the sirens were high-pitched, almost deafening to the survivors.

The four clambered onto the road and raced up towards the horde, slamming bullets into the infected creatures until they revealed a shocking sight. Rochelle winced at the first glimpse of the broken body of Coach. His face was torn and his bones crushed.

"We can't stop, come on."Nick told her pulling on her shoulder. Although it was a pain for Zoey to admit, Nick was right...For once. And there was nothing they could do for him now. They had to keep going.

The group staggered up the road until a light shoe above them, they glanced up seeing a helicopter circling the sky.

"Holy shit we made it!"Nick cheered. The groups faces lit, other than Zoey's and Drakes, their minds remained occupied Zoey was worried for Ellis...if Coach had been ripped apart like that, what could have happened to him?

"Wait."Rochelle said slowly.

"That helicopter isn't stopping..."She finished.

Nick began shouting for it to stop, but obviously the pilot was either unable to hear him over the propellers or they're purposely ignoring him...It's probably the second option though.

As the helicopter dragged itself away through the dusty sky, Nick began cursing towards it. Leaving the others waiting for him to finish. Then Zoey saw something in the distance, two lights, getting bigger and bigger...closer and closer.

Then she heard a car engine and prayed for what she thought it could be.

The brakes screeched as the car stopped beside them, the window was wound down by none other than Ellis.

"You guys need a ride?"He said smiling.

"You farm boy really should know when to stop smiling."Nick huffed climbing into the car.

Franklin bursted out of the back door and flung himself at Drake who immediately hugged him back as tears formed in his eyes.

"Drake, I thought I'd never see you again."Franklin sobbed putting his arms around his brother's neck.

"You can't get rid of me that easily."Drake choked a sob and smiled at his younger sibling.

Suddenly a high-pitched howling echoed around them as Zoey opened the shotgun seat door, then footsteps were heard coming towards them, running...No not running, padding...Like...Dogs?

A dog came out of nowhere and attached itself to Rochelle's leg, it began dragging her off out of sight and the others were too in shock to do anything, her screamed soon died down after a few ripped and snaps were heard from the darkness which surround them.

"Get in the car...I don't know what the fuck that was but GET IN THE CAR!"Nick shouted to the others, Zoey quickly climbed into the shotgun seat and Nick and Drake into the back when Franklin screamed and he was dragged away from his brother.

"Drake!"He shouted as a black haired dog with razor teeth and green beady eyes hauled him along the road, creating scratches on the small boys face as it tugged him roughly along the pavement.

Drake climbed out the door only to be pulled back inside by Nick,

"Drive Ellis."He ordered.

"But-"Ellis began as he and Zoey watched the boy being dragged away.

"There's nothing we can do, now drive!"Nick told him.

Ellis quickly started the engine again and pulled off up the road; Nick slammed the back door shut once he had Drake inside and breathed a sigh as the car went out of view of the night's events.

Franklins tortured face remained an image in all of their eyes...


	9. Fences

Zoey woke up with her head pounding,  
As she opened her eyes she exposed herself to hot sunlight peeking through the windows. Her pupils retracted and she struggled to push herself into a straighter sitting position. She heard mumbles escaping the radio in between her and Ellis  
"You alright miss?"Ellis asked sending her a quick glance then turning back to the road.  
"I'm fine, thanks Ellis."She yawned stretching her arms above her head causing the seat-belt to flex upwards and ping back to her shoulder once her arms lowered.  
"Where are we?"Nick asked from the back of the car.  
"We're on our way to Mexico my friends" Ellis said cheerfully.  
"Mexico? Are you fucking kidding me?!"Nick said loudly, waking up Drake who's cheeks were still stained with tears.  
"Calm down you idiot."Zoey said firmly, sitting up straight and putting her hand on her aching head.  
"Why Mexico?"Nick said in a calmer tone as he began fiddling with a bandage on his wrist.  
"While you were sleeping I managed to get a radio signal out of this piece of shit. Telling survivors to head for Mexico."Ellis told him as he opened the window beside him and laid his arm across the ledge.  
Nick yawned and stretched his arms almost hitting the still silent Drake in the face. Zoey thought about what he had been through and turned around to face him, gripping the top of the chair with her hands.  
"Drake."She began quietly.  
The boy looked up to face the girl, his piercing blue eyes reminding her of little Franklin the first time she saw him only a couple of days ago, full of tears.  
"How are you feeling?"She asked.  
"I'm fine."Drake said in a shaky voice. He was clearly trying to hold back tears. Zoeys heart sank just watching him. She turned back to the front and slumped down in her seat. Catching a glance from Ellis as he turned down a street.  
"Ellis, you want me to drive for a while? You can sleep for a bit."Nick offered, leaning forward and sticking his head through the gap between Ellis and Zoey.  
"Umm...If you want. I don't mind."Ellis said blankly. He clearly needed to rest but didn't want to force Nick into driving.  
"Its fine. Pull over."Nick said nodding his head towards the side of the road.  
Ellis did as he commanded and parked the car on the side of the road, to swap seats with Nick.  
Nick stepped out the car only to hear a soft sob across from him.  
Ellis froze as he stepped close to the pained girl. She sobbed in the middle of the road. Her eyes were light brown and her skin pale grey. She held her head in her hands and rocked herself in a soothing motion back and forth.  
Ellis glanced to Nick as the older man looked back. Exhaling deeply Ellis walked forwards towards the door Nick used. Nick quietly climbed into the front seat and clipped the door silently behind himself. Ellis carefully climbed into the back, keeping his glassy blue eyes on the witch as she swayed forwards and backwards slowly as she sobbed. Ellis came to a halt when he heard the sobs sees and a shadow form across the road by his feet. He turned his head slowly receiving a click in his neck as he noticed the witch standing. Her eyes gradually getting brighter and brighter. He felt a tight grip on his arm and before he was able to go anything Drake pulled him harshly into the car. Ellis groaned as he hit his head on the car ceiling and landed across the seat. The witch wailed and sent her arms in the air when her screams became higher in pitch. Nick started the car and pulled out onto the road. Turning quickly, confusing the other survivors. Zoey tightened her seat-belt and gripped to the seat as she tried to expect the unexpected from him. Nick smiled as the car swerved to face the witch. He changed the gears quickly and forced the car forwards hitting the witch and flung her over the car. She hit the ground with a sickening smack. Zoey opened her eyes exposing a blood splattered windscreen in front of her. She made a disgusted face before turning back to check the witch. She was slowly pushing herself to her feet. Her eyes blazing and her hair lay across her face. She was bruised and broken. A bone from her rib cage stuck out of her chest in an awkward angle as she staggered towards the car again. Nick reversed dragging the witch beneath the car and letting echoing cracks sound around them. Zoey covered her ears and forced her eyes shut as she buried her head in her arms, she tried her best to block out what was going on. Ellis' face had been drained of all its colour as he watched the witch crawl out from underneath the car like a broken doll. Her head had been twisted from her neck and her arm was dislocated. Her chest still displayed her broken rib-cage and her legs which carried her weight in a desperate struggle to bring her to a source of food...meaning the survivors flesh. Her eyes were burning with pain and the rage was now flaming. She crawled to the front seat window, where Nick was now sitting and pushed her gammy arms inside, scratching around for them. Nick leant back almost sitting on Zoey as he avoided her razor-like claws.  
Her mouth was foaming with anger and her crystalic sharp teeth snapping together as she attempted to bite through the space between her and the human flesh she desired.  
Her hands were covered in cuts and dirt, dirt which was encrusted deep under her nails. Her eyes displayed hatred... A burning hatred which only death would be able to stop.  
Zoey removed her hands from her ears and looked up to where the witch was. She thought back to Francis when a witch was coming right at him in the burning building. She remembered him taking the molotov and forcing it into the witches mouth...within a few seconds Zoey opened the compartment in front of her where they had put the explosives and ammunition. She pulled out a molotov and climbed over Nick with ease. She brought her pistol up from beside her, before the boys could register what was happening Zoey shoved the molotov into the witch's foaming mouth. She loaded her pistol and shot the witch back as the molotov was about to go off. It exploded and the witch went up in the explosion. Limbs flew around the car and blood stained the windows. Zoey slumped back into her seat and exhaled a deep held in breath. Nick shuffled back into his seat and backed the car over what was left of the witch before continuing up the road just to prove a point and to make sure she wasn't going to get back up again.  
Ellis yawned and tapped Zoey's shoulder, she turned with a blank expression on her face, not expecting anything but a smile.  
"That was some kickass shit miss."He said truthfully.  
"Thanks, I umm...learnt it from a friend."She said quietly.  
"A friend? One from your group?"He asked sitting forward to show her he was listening and eager to know.  
"Yes."She nodded.  
"What was their name?"Ellis asked curiously.  
"...if urm, you don't mind me askin'."He finished, stuttering a little.  
"Francis. His name was Francis."Zoey told him calmly still facing forward as she spoke to him. Her eyes were occupied with the road ahead as Nick drove with confidence and ease.  
"I would've loved to have met him. I'm sure he was one hell of a guy."Ellis smiled, trying to lift Zoey's spirit.  
"Yeah, he sure was Ellis."She brought herself to smile slightly before she turned her head to the window and shut her eyes, breathing out softly and tiredly.  
Ellis smiled as he leant back in his seat, leaning his head against the window and almost immediately falling asleep.  
Drake sat up straighter and yawned quietly.  
"You alright Drake?"Nick asked checking the boy in the mirror and seeing his colour-drained face.  
"I'm...Urm. I'm fine."He said quietly, in a broken choked voice.  
"You hungry?"Nick questioned.  
"Ummm...no."Drake answered in a obvious lie as his eyes wandered around anywhere but Nicks direction.  
"Don't be stupid, you're starving. As we all are."Nick said blankly. Even though Nick was still being a little more than rude towards Drake...he didn't seem to be acting as defensive and truthful as usual.  
"We'll find a gas station and stop for some food. You know how to use a gun?"Nick asked him.  
"Urrr..."  
"Take this."Nick interrupted passing a rifle back to the boy. Drake took the gun with inexperienced hands and tried to hold it as it should be held when used.

They reached a gas station, Nick gave Zoey a light nudge to wake her up, she sat up straight looking distraught. Her green eyes still looked tired.  
"Alright princess, we're gonna go get gas and food... Look after farm boy would you?"Nick sighed opening the car door. Zoey nodded in reply and stretched her arms glancing to Ellis who was sleeping peacefully behind her. She watched Drake and Nick disappear off into the gas station store and let her head fall back on the seat, she breathed a sigh and yawned. Rubbing her eyes she felt a burning sensation in the back of her throat...she was so thirsty.  
Ellis' face still appeared paler and his eyes and mouth were slightly open as he slept which reminded her of how Bill would sleep, he always had his glassy eyes half open and bolting around through his thoughts and dreams when he was sleeping.  
Zoey looked around, seeing no sign of any zombies around them. This place was completely clear...absolutely deserted actually.  
Within a few minutes Drake and Nick were back and they had three bags full of stolen goods.  
Zoey glanced towards Nick, he looked up at her once he had put the bags down in between them.  
"What?"He said curiously.  
"You paid for none of that."She said blankly.  
"Well, who's there to pay?"Nick asked as if it was a stupid response.  
"That's not the point."She told him.  
"Then what is princess? Nothing I do is ever right in your eyes is it."He sighed.  
"Stop calling me that."She demanded.  
Nick looked up and narrowed his eyes,  
"Princess."He said menacingly, as if he was expecting a response from her.  
Zoey narrowed her eyes too and made a fist with her hand before forcing it into Nicks jaw. He swayed back and brought his hand up to hold his jaw.  
"Son of a bitch."He muttered, re-jigging his jaw as it clicked a little.  
"Can we be on our way now?"Zoey asked him seriously, raising an eyebrow. Nick sighed and shot her a glare before driving out of the station and onto the main road again.

A couple of hours later they had reached the Mexican border, the road seemed chock-a-block with cars but for some reason the cars showed no signs if movement or life at all for that matter. Nick beeped the car horn to try and get a reaction from someone but to no avail. Zoey straightened up taking another sip of the Pepsi Nick had handed her from one of the bags.  
Ellis was now awake and eating crisps. Drake was still fiddling with the gun Nick had given him, as he took bites out of a sandwich every now and then.  
"Wait here."Nick said to the others before exiting the car and clipping the door to a shut. He began walking up the road slipping between cars and checking in a few every few times he past one.  
He saw the border fence closed ahead of them, fences surrounded the road ahead which must have been put there to stop the infected passing through.  
Nick noticed a gap that had been made in the corner of the fence, it was a slight tear which was just big enough to fit through.  
Nick made his way back to the car, seeing the other survivors eyes watching him as he walked back he attempted to act at ease and calm as he reached them.  
"We're going to have to walk from here guys."He said blankly.  
The others didn't make much effort to ask why or to moan, they were all still tired and fatigued after last night's events. They took their stuff and put it all into a backpack which Drake slung over his shoulder before they made their way up the road, through the cars and the gap in the fences...


	10. Brick by boring brick

Through the fence they were led to a sparse of green which spread across a large area leading them past the abandoned cars. The place was still zombie-free but for how long? And why weren't there any zombies here?  
Nick had his shotgun on his back and a baseball bat in his hands, his eyes were tired but he continued on without moaning as his aching legs carried his weight across the grass.  
The grass soon disappeared beneath them and they found themselves stalking across a dry dirt path. Dust collided around their ankles and they coughed away the ash a number of times as it entered their lungs.  
Zoey's face was drained of colour; her eyes seemed lighter green and begged to close as the heat shone down on them. Her hair lay motionless as no breeze seemed to lift. Ellis had taken his hat from his head and began waving it back and forth in front of his face as a substitute fan. Drake's dark blonde hair had been soaked in sweat and his crystal-like blue eyes flickered to different angles as paranoia flooded his bloodstream.  
Nick seemed calm as he trenched along the path, inhaling and exhaling at a normal pace. He had a slight limp on his leg as he stepped.  
Zoey caught up with Drake who seemed alarmed by her sudden appearance beside him.  
"How are you holding up?"She asked him. Drake sighed and wiped a layer of sweat from his forehead.  
"I honestly don't know. I've lost everyone."He said hanging his head trying to hide his emotions.  
"What happened? You know, splitting you and Franklin up?"Zoey wondered.  
Drake straightened up as they walked and exhaled shakily again.  
"If you don't want to talk about it I understand-"  
"No, no. You deserve to know after what you did to help me and little Franklin."He interrupted and said in a rushed tired voice which he ended with a broken breath escaping his gagging lungs.  
"We were in Lima when we got separated. We ran into this girl, umm... Dana, she seemed fine at first, but I think the isolation had really gone to her head. She turned against us thinking we were a threat to her, she tried to kill us and take all the supplies we had-"  
"Kill you? What happened?"Zoey interrupted her green eyes wide.  
"She held Franklin at gun-point telling me to give her our supplies or she'd shoot him. There wasn't really anything I could do other than give her the stuff."He sighed.  
"So you gave her your supplies."She finished.  
"I did. But then she wouldn't settle for that. She said that we'd follow her and take the stuff back, killing her. When we had no intention of killing anything sane. Then again, she was hardly sane."He continued.  
"She shot me. Here-"Drake stopped and pulled up his sleeve exposing a bloody bandage which he'd wrapped around his arm just above his elbow. The bleeding had obviously stopped but it was still a terrible sight to see the amount of blood on the bandage and stained down in trails on his arm.  
"Why didn't you show us that before?"Zoey wondered as they continued up the dirt path.  
"You seemed to all have enough to deal with."He breathed a tired laugh.  
Zoey was silent for a moment before turning back to Drake.  
"So, what actually split you two up?"She asked.  
"Dana. She was honestly insane. She set off the alarms in the mall and dragged in a horde of infected bitches. Franklin and I made a run for it when a huge animal-like thing slammed Dana into a wall; it held her like a rag-doll in its giant fist and pummelled her into the ground until the concrete literally cracked, as did her bones. As the horde came at us we just lost sight of one another. Franklin must have run off while I ended up fighting off the horde trying to find him."Drake explained.  
"I'm sorry."Zoey said quietly.  
"Don't be, it wasn't your fault and what you did for Franklin was much appreciated."He sighed.  
"But I'm sorry we couldn't save him."She said blankly.  
"I'm sorry too."He forced a friendly smile onto his lips and turned back to the front, walking at a steady pace as he pulled his sleeve back down over his bandage.

The orange sun was still beaming down on the survivors and they still hadn't found a patch of shade. Trees were nowhere in sight and the sky was cloud-free and the same blue as Drakes piercing eyes.  
The group was almost ready to give in and let their bodies fall to the dusty ground which would add little pain to their already aching bodies.

Zoey pushed a few escapee strands of wavy brown hair behind her ear and breathed a sigh as the dirt path began to disappear beneath them and they came to a road. Nick held his head high on his neck, facing towards the sky, his eyes closed and he took in his surroundings with a few deep breaths. The fact that they had made it this far despite their wounds and desperate states.

They staggered onto the road, seeing no infected around them. The atmosphere was somewhat peaceful; they were soon surrounded by buildings as they walked further up the road. The sky began to fade to purple and the survivors were slowly but surely wandering into fatigue.  
Nick led them towards a tall building; he followed the staircase to the top floor and edged the others into one room which had a lock on the back of the door. Locking all of the exits, including windows. The survivors collapsed on the floor, their heads hit the ground like bowling balls, despite how much pain they were already in, and how much they had already suffered. A little knock on the head wasn't going to bring them to any mourning. Drake brought the supply bag off his shoulder and resting his head against it as a substitute pillow. Zoey had leant her back against the wall and sat slouching facing Nick and Drake. Ellis was already asleep beside her, his hat had fallen half off his head and was now attached to a clump of his dusty brown hair which had fallen across his right eye as he slept.  
Zoey turned her back to where Ellis lay as his eyelids fluttered slightly and she was worried he'd catch her watching him and the situation would become rather awkward. She moved about until she was comfortable enough to nod off.

_*The lights were dim in the empty room. Her heart raced in her chest and her head felt heavy on her shoulders when she tried to look up, her eyes closed quickly once a bright, white light bolted into her eyes, causing her pupils to retract. She realised she was sat in a wooden chair placed in the centre of the room. With minor effort the girl looked to the right, she noticed the room was sanitised but had no idea as to where she was. The walls were smooth white and a metal-looking door placed ahead of her was the new area her eyes fixated on as it seemed to be radiating muffled sounds into the room. Her green irises seemed to narrow and the white covering to the rest of her eyes almost illuminated her face as paranoia flooded through her veins and her mind focused on whatever was behind that door. _

_"Just let go of me!"A familiar voice cried from the other side of the door. Zoey felt her heart skip a little as she attempted to move from the chair she had woken up on, she pulled her arms to her sides but her hands seemed to be caught in a bind of some sort. She leant back, almost forcing the chair off two of its legs and onto the floor, rocking herself forward she managed to keep it upright. Zoey leant back with more care and patience. She caught glimpse of a rope tied around her wrists which had been connected through the wooden bars in the back of the chair. Her wrists were bound; she had to option but to wait, intently listening to the sounds which still were difficult to understand from this side of the door. Zoey soon became restless watching the motionless door on the other side of the room. She turned her head to the ground and simple occupied herself by scuffing her shoes across the floor, making a quiet scratching sound on the tiled surface. _

_That was when the door bursted open and her heart jumped into her throat; a pale man was thrown into the room followed by another who seemed to have the upper-hand in whatever was going on here. _

_Zoey's eyes met glassy blue ones at for the first time since she had woken up she remembered something. Ellis. Her eyes wandered upwards to the other man, this one she hadn't seen before. Dark brown/black hair and a tanned complexion. The man was taller than Ellis but still short for the age he appeared to be._

_"Zoey-"Ellis mumbled gathering his weight onto his feet and managing to stand._

_"Ellis, what's go-?"Zoey was stopped when she felt a strong force hit her, the chair fell backwards onto the floor and she struggled to turn enough to see Ellis again._

_As a mere few moments went by Zoey heard shouts and thuds, her mind flickered from thought to thought as she attempted to turn herself around even though her wrists were bound far too tight to allow her to move even an inch. _

_She finally felt the ropes move slightly and she was able to move her small hands from the ropes, she felt red raw rubs spreading around her wrists from the struggle and scarlet blood trickled down her forearms._

_"Zoey!"Ellis called out, Zoey's eyes wandered upwards again, away from her burning wrists. She brought herself to her feet, seeing the room bare and the door hung open. She staggered out the door; it seemed strange that she was no longer limping or even feeling weaker than a normal person who wasn't dealing with a zombie apocalypse. She turned a few corners as she walked through the corridors attempting to be as silent as she could so that she would be able to listen for Ellis. She heard a thud behind her and turned seeing Ellis being slammed into a wall by a normal sized man. He wasn't infected, but he did seem...different._

_Zoey ran towards him and threw herself at the man, using her own body-weight to knock him off his feet, his ankles resounded a deathly crack and he fell to the ground shakily holding in a cry. Zoey felt herself being pulled to her feet and saw Ellis behind her lifting her up. She pushed away his arms and stood alone looking up to him._

_"What the fuck is going on?"She exhaled scanning Ellis' face and noticing a few grazes and bruises crawling up the left side of his face. _

_"These people aren't infected. They're fucking insane!"Ellis yelled. Anger had obviously built up in his veins since the last time she saw him...which, Zoey couldn't remember._

_She turned to see the man crawling along the floor up the corridor; turning her attention back to Ellis who seemed to be looking around for something she wondered;_

_"What's wrong?"She asked readjusting the sleeves on her pink jacket._

_"Nick, I can't find him."He said blankly before rummaging through his pockets, pulling out a pistol he handed it kindly to her and gave her a quick smile before walking anxiously up the corridor in the opposite direction._

_Zoey glanced down at the man who was still crawling across the ground towards her, his hands stretching out to try and pull her down with him. She loaded the pistol with one hand and shot a bullet right into his back without even hesitating. The apocalypse seemed to be turning her into an inhumane being, killing people was wrong, and yet she couldn't find a way to change her actions._

_This all seemed to real, the place, the people. And yet all Zoey remembered was falling asleep beside Ellis in the dusty room which smelt of rotten corpses and vomit. She missed the putrid stench in the air which her nose had adapted to after the long nights laying in abandoned homes and flee-ridden safe-houses. Then again, the smell of sanitation wasn't to be moaned about. Even if she had no idea where she was or how she came to be here._

_Then she heard a sound coming from behind her which snapped her back to reality. A gun shot. Zoey glanced forwards to see Ellis stood holding his hand to his chest as scarlet liquid seeped through his shirt. She was unable to speak as the shock had taken over her emotions. She then saw a figure come out from behind him. Drake?_

_He stood holding a gun, which he had obviously just used to shoot Ellis. _

_"Drake? What the hell are you doing?!"She cried._

_"Hush your gums and drop the gun."Drake ordered. Zoey refused his request and pointed the pistol right between his blue eyes. _

_"Drop the gun or I'll shoot you, just like I shot Nick and Ellis."Drake went on, stepping cautiously towards the girl, keeping the gun aimed straight at her._

_"Why are you doing this? We're on the same side!"Zoey said clearing her throat._

_"No, WE we're NEVER on the same side. The moment i met you guys i knew you were nothing but a waste of my time. And I was right; you managed to get my brother killed! Then you decided to run away instead of going out there to save him from those sons of bitches!"Drake spoke as he stepped closer and closer. Zoey stepped back feeling uneasy. She glanced down to Ellis, who's mouth was full of his own blood and he had fallen to his knees on the hard floor. His blue eyes breathed fear and yet she couldn't help him until Drake was out of her way. Zoey quickly gripped the front of the gun Drake was holding and pulled it towards herself, Drake flew forwards and onto the floor beside Zoey. She loaded the gun quickly and aimed it at Drakes head, stuffing the pistol into her back pocket. The boy staggered to his feet and faced her, gazing down at Ellis he looked up and almost smiled. Then Zoey's _

_Hearing went fuzzy and all she could hear was a near silent tapping..._


	11. When it rains

Zoey woke up feeling achy and numb. Her right side seemed to be completely useless as she had lost all feeling in her right arm and leg. She tossed her head to the right to make her hair fall at her shoulders. She tried to push herself up using her hands but her wrists couldn't take her little weight and clicked quietly, she fell back to the ground silently. Zoey held her hands up in front of her face as the burning in her wrists still hadn't stopped even though the dream had ended. Her eyes focused from blur to blur as her hands made it to her line of sight. The room she was in seemed dark, although her eyes had already adjusted to the dim light which peeked through the wooden planks which covered the windows and doors.

She heard a near silent tapping from outside. At first she was startled by the sounds as they were in the exact same tone as the tapping in her dream. Zoey rose from the ground, trying to be as quiet as she could, attempting to numb the pain growing up her veins leading right through her leg up to her arm and into her neck.  
Zoey stretched her right arm into the air in front of her and pushed her hair back, she'd noticed that her hair had fallen out of the band, but her appearance wasn't exactly important to her at this point in time, so she allowed her hair to flow in wavy strands around her shoulders. Zoey was still anxiously trying to work out what the noise was, she glanced down, seeing Ellis, who was still asleep propped up against the wall even though the night before she remembered him falling asleep laying across the floor, she assumed he had awoken since then.

Zoey quietly walked to the door, which Nick had locked and pushed a chest of drawers in front of last night. While her mind was preoccupied on the sound she didn't pay attention to the risk of infected awaiting her on the other side of the door.  
Luckily for her, there were none in sight. She managed to push the door open wide enough to fit through although the others may have trouble. The chest of drawers was heavier than it looked as she tugged the door handle roughly, causing it to slide back across the wooden planked floor, allowing her to escape the stuffy room.  
Once on the other side of the door Zoey took varied steps along the corridor until she reached the main entrance. She flipped up the small metal latch that had kept the door from opening the night before. Taking a shaky breath Zoey pulled the door handle downwards, allowing the door to slide open with ease towards her.  
As the door opened more and more her green eyes were exposed to a harsh wind which whipped past her, making her pink jacket swing back around her waist and allowing her white shirt to be seen underneath. Zoey stepped out into the morning air. She was met by drops of cool liquid and looked up with her eyes wide she focused on the silver-lined clouds in the sky, rain fell down on her face. The cool substance was almost soothing to her cuts and bruises. She stood for a moment with her eyes shut facing up to the sky. The sun was hidden behind the grey mass of clouds but for now the sun didn't matter in Zoey's mind. For now, she was, for the first time in a very long time. Content. She stretched her right arm out, realising that the more she used it, the less numb she felt. Opening her eyes again and looking forwards to where a pure white mist had gathered around the road and across leading to a small sparse of green. Zoey turned and attempted to step across the concrete beside the wall, only to find her legs almost turning to liquid and she put her hands against the wall to steady herself and pushed back up to stand up straight. Her eyes diverted towards the road, where the white mist lay overhanging on the fence which still dragged up alongside the road. The rain hammered down and she soon felt the ice cold substance drenching her jacket. Zoey took a deep shaky breath, allowing a small cloud of air to escape her mouth. The bitter chill flooded through her nervous system and into her veins which froze her blue blood as she tried to move. Zoey managed to turn back around, as her right foot left the ground when she tried to step forwards, she was caught off balance and gripped the wall even tighter. Her finger nails were cracking at the tips as she dug them into the wall, desperately trying to hold herself up.  
She brought in a long shaky breath and let go of the wall. Allowing herself to stand on the tainted concrete alone.  
A false sound came at her, almost like a wall of stone as the low tone and hard noise hit her ear drums. Zoey's head twisted and she faced the door, which she'd left slightly open.  
She clicked back to reality as her mind seemed to have wandered into a different world which was filled with her old cherished memories of her parents, even Bill's last words were resounding in her head over and over. The agonising pain she had gone through _just _watching her friends die was nothing compared to the pain that had been brought to them in death. Their deaths weren't quick and painless. They dragged on through hours, all of their deathly cries of pain and sickening cracks and thuds from where their bodies were crushed, battered and torn remained a memory to her. She only wished for all of it to go away. But how could she when the zombie apocalypse was still at bay and the day was young.

Her eyes met the door again once her thoughts had passed over her light flying demons surrounding her in cimmerian dreams of death and destruction. Zoey wobbled towards it, her hair dripping wet and her hands shaking from the cold. She had almost reached the door when her dark emerald eyes locked glances with familiar ocean blue ones. She almost lost her footing as the man stepped outside in front of her. He was unable to register any emotion on the pale girls face.  
"Zoey?"He said softly, trying to get her attention without startling her. Her eyes flickered again and she realised she had become lost in her thoughts.  
"Ellis, umm... I was just-"  
"Its okay."He interrupted putting his hand on her shoulder, untangling a strand of her hair which the rain had made into dripping wet curls. Zoey glanced down at his hand with an uneasy expression on her face and Ellis drew back his hand realising he must look like a dumbstruck idiot to her, stood in the rain playing with her hair like a stupid teenage love story.  
"Sorry."Ellis said gazing down at the ground, shifting his feet slightly. Zoey stood silent for a moment; the rain still fell upon them with the tapping sounds that made Ellis content, just like the old times back on the farm with his family. They would sit in the barn for hours talking while the rain found its way through gaps in the wooden planks of the ceiling and patted down around them. Ellis snapped back to Zoey and shook away his old memories.  
"You're soaked miss, come on, before you catch a cold."Ellis said kindly gesturing for her to come with him by putting a hand on her shoulder.  
Zoey staggered through the door and into the corridor with Ellis' help. Once he let go of her and she was able to stand alone she slumped back against the wall. It seemed that as the days went on, no matter how much sleep she was getting, she still felt constantly tired and weak.  
Ellis sent her a smile and a hand gesture which seemed to mean 'wait here' before shutting and latching the door, then walking up the corridor.  
Zoey leant her head back on the wall and closed her eyes tightly. Things were getting way too comfortable between her and Ellis, and she couldn't let herself get attached to anyone after what happened to her family, Bill, Francis and Louis. Everyone she cared about was soon ripped from her, each of them dying in the most sickening ways. Zoey was pulled from her thoughts when she saw Ellis walking up to her clutching a towel in his hands. Ellis wrapped the towel around her and slung in over her shoulders where he held it out for her to take. Zoey put her icy, cold hand up to take it from Ellis, feeling his a lot warmer hand brush against hers and once again she glanced at the ground to hide the rose colour spreading across her face. He could feel her ice-like breath hitting his neck when she exhaled. That was when he knew he was really standing too close. He was afraid that Zoey was feeling uncomfortable so he gulped slightly and stepped back a little. He hadn't even noticed how close they were standing.  
"Well I urm..."Ellis began to stutter which made Zoey feel a little stupid for blushing just because of a simple brush of their hands.  
"Yeah, I'm gonna let you umm... let you..."  
"I know Ellis. I got it."Zoey said before he continued to stutter. Ellis nodded and stalked away down the corridor. Once he was out of sight Zoey sighed and pressed her head against the wall. She was freezing, and her hair was still soaked, causing droplets of rain water to run down the wall as her head rested against it. Zoey let herself slide down the wall onto the floor where she pulled her knees to her chest, hugging them, and soon she fell asleep again...


	12. Hello cold world

Zoey woke up hearing gun shots above her, she was brought to her feet despite her aching body and her eyes widened in alarm. The air was cold and she could feel goose bumps spreading across her skin. She heard more gun shots and turned to the corridor, Zoey began walking that way hoping to find the others. Her veins tensed and she could feel suspense growing. Her mind wandered to thoughts of what the gun shots were but she wasn't too far from finding out.  
Zoey turned the corner meeting glances with Drake; she jumped back at first, remembering the eyes from her dream, or nightmare. Drake at first seemed confused by her reaction, he stepped towards her to try and console her only to be nudged back by her with the palm of her hand hitting his chest.  
"Zoey, what's wrong?"Drake asked.  
"What's that noise?"Zoey wondered, ignoring his question.  
"Its Nick, he's on the roof."Drake told her.  
"Why is he up there?"Zoey questioned.  
"He woke up at around 6, he went straight up there with a gun and a few boxes of ammunition, he's been up there shooting at nothing for hours."Drake went on. Zoey's gaze faded and her eyes dimmed.  
"Where's Ellis?"She asked.  
"So many questions-"Drake rolled his eyes.  
"WHERE is he?"She asked with a lot more force, as last nights dream had caused her to worry for Ellis' life, remembering how Drake had shot him.  
"He's still asleep."He sighed tiredly.  
Zoey didn't take long to turn around and head for the staircase, it led upwards in a half spiral and on the landing she'd reached he noticed a wooden stool placed directly under an attic door, which was hanging open, off its latch. Zoey raised an eyebrow before stepping up onto the wooden stool and gripping the edges of the square attic doorway she attempted to pull herself up, she placed her elbows inside the attic to prop herself up and flicked her head to make the still wet hair brush out of her face. Her legs were dangling beneath her as she tried to pull herself up. Then she felt something grab onto her legs from the landing. Zoey kicked her legs out trying to get whatever it was off of her, she tugged away and dug her nails into the wooden floor of the attic as she felt it hold on tighter. She groaned as she almost slipped right out of the attic, digging her nails in leaving splinters on the tips of her fingers and palms. Zoey winced and bit her bottom lip to hold in a soft cry. She gave one hard kick out to the side, feeling herself hit whatever it was she heard a groan and then something hit the wooden floor which told her she'd knocked whatever it was off its feet.  
"Zoey its okay, it's just me."Ellis' voice came from beneath her, his tone seemed pained, she'd obviously kicked him pretty hard.  
"Ellis? Oh, I'm sorry..."She said feeling more than a little stupid.  
"It's fine."He breathed a laugh before putting his hands around her ankles again to help her up. Zoey took his help this time and put her hands on either side of the attic gap through, pushing herself up while he carefully held onto her ankles to keep her from falling back down.  
"Umm Zoey?"Ellis said as her feet disappeared along with the rest of her through the gap into the darkness.  
"Yes?"She said leaning back over the edge to see his glassy blue eyes looking up at her.  
"Be careful... You and Nick aren't exactly 'best buds'."He said doing a speech mark gesture with his fingers when he said best buds. Zoey smiled and breathed a little laugh.  
"I got it."She said friendly before disappearing off into the attic leaving Ellis alone on the landing.  
Zoey made her way across the loft until she reached a broken sliding tile which enabled her to get onto the roof. She pushed it aside and turned sideways in order to fit through the gap with more ease. Her pink jacket caught on a sticking out piece of wood, pulling a thread from the fabric. Zoey tugged her arm lightly and the fabric ripped from her jacket leaving the long pink thread attached to the wood, wound around it in a stringy pattern. Zoey stepped out fully onto the roof and climbed up the tiles, that was when she saw Nick. He'd thrown the gun down across the tiles and was now sat with his head in his hands on the top groove of the roof. Zoey quietly and cautiously climbed up the roof towards him. It was still raining, meaning the tiles were rather slippery. The cold air chilled Zoey's veins and as a droplet of rain hit the back of the neck and rolled down her spine she shivered at the bitter chill. Zoey reached Nick; she climbed over the roof groove beside him and dangled her legs on the same side as him. Nick glanced up towards her and for the first time, he didn't say anything. His eyes seemed tired and blotchy red. He'd been crying?  
Zoey lowered her eye brow into a concerned position. Despite how much of a dick head he had been since she met him back in Lima, Ohio, she still wanted to know what was upsetting him.  
"...Nick-"she began, shifting her feet towards him to show him that she meant no harm.  
"What do you want?"He asked turning to face away from her, attempting to hide the tears streaming down his face.  
"What are you doing up here?"She wondered.  
"Stuff."He muttered blankly.  
"If you don't tell me I can't help you."Zoey brought up. Nick turned to her looking at his verge of breaking.  
"You can help me! Don't act like you care."He yelled at her causing her to shuffle back feeling threatened. Nick stopped ranting and his green eyes softened slightly, as they had when he first saw Franklin.  
"I'm sorry, I-"Nick stopped himself and exhaled a shaky breath as he attempted to hold back the next few tears.  
"It's okay."Zoey said calmly readjusting the sleeves on her jacket and fiddling with a loose thread which had been pulled out and ripped when she climbed onto the roof.  
"You umm... You got a family?"Nick asked turning to her. Zoey brought her eyes back up to him and cleared her throat.  
"Not now."She said quietly.  
"They died?"Nick questioned.  
"Killed."Zoey corrected glancing down at her sleeve again as she fiddled with the thread.  
"I'm sorry."Nick huffed.  
"Don't be."Zoey said clearly. She let go of the thread of her jacket and let her hands fall on her knees as she dangled her legs over the groove of the tiled roof.  
"What about you? Tell me about your family?"Zoey wondered.  
Nick's glance faded and his eyes seemed to darken, drowning in sorrow.  
"We were at home when the infection hit our town. They were telling everyone about it being the 'green flu' when everyone knew it was all bull shit they were using just to cover up what was really going on. My son, Dean, was sent home from school saying the infection had spread and they had to evacuate the school. My wife, Anna, she came home saying she got bitten. I thought she meant by a dog or something, but then within a few hours she came down with a fever hot enough to burn. Her eyes, which were blue seemed to become lighter. Then she turned. Her eyes became almost white. Her skin was grey and it was peeling in huge patches. She could hardly speak. I told Dean to go to his room while this was going on, I couldn't bare the thought of him seeing this happen to his mother. The last words she managed to say before the infection took over were 'stay away'. I knew she was right but I didn't want to just leave her, I had to help her. It was about 3 am and Dean was asleep, I had piled stuff in front of the bedroom door where Anna was turning. That was when the door handle started twisting, round and round. I heard a growling sort of sound and then the doors began to shake as she hit against them, obviously smelling me and Dean. I took Dean from his room telling him to stay silent, we went downstairs and I took him in the kitchen, telling him to stay there until I came back. She was still scratching and hitting the door when I climbed back up the staircase towards the bedroom. I carefully moved everything out the way of the door and went back to Dean. We waited in the kitchen for about 10 minutes, then we heard growling. There were footsteps staggering down the stairs, and something walking past the kitchen. As Dean began to breath heavier out of fear I put my hand over his mouth to muffle the sound. Then the front door opened and the footsteps died down.  
Taking a knife from the kitchen drawer I went to see what was happening outside. I reached the door and saw Anna staggering away, along with dozens of others, all walking up the road. I shut and locked the door, as well as every window. There was nothing I could do, she was one of them."Nick explained. Zoey was listening intently and became confused when Nick stopped.  
"What about Dean? Where is he?"She asked. Nick shook his head quickly, trying desperately to push away the tears.  
"Nick..."Zoey began trying to calm him down.  
"Piss off, I've told you too much already. Why should I even tell this to you, of all people?"Nick ranted, blinking back a few tears. Zoey realised that Nick had resumed the dick head act and turned away to take in what he had told her. Then Zoey stood and looked down at Nick, he soon went silent seeing that she was waiting to speak.  
"I'm sorry for your loss. But you aren't the _only _one that has lost something."She said firmly before sliding carefully back down the roof and climbing through the gap in the sliding tiles into the attic...


	13. My hero

Ellis was sitting down on a kitchen counter, with all of the drawers beneath him lying open and beside him, kitchen knives. It seemed that boredom had got the best of him as he threw knife after knife at the wall opposite getting it stuck in the bricks.  
Drake had become restless, his head leant back against the wall and his dusty blonde hair hung slightly over his left eye. Zoey walked into the kitchen just as Ellis threw another knife; she jumped back seeing the knife lodge itself into the wall in front of her. Ellis' eyes widened and he jumped down from the kitchen counter.  
"Sorry, miss, didn't see you comin'."He said sincerely.  
"It's fine."She said in a friendly tone.  
Drake watched her walk by and thought about the growing tension between them. He flicked his hair to the side and exhaled lightly.  
"You hungry?"Ellis asked her.  
"No I'm fine."Zoey mumbled sitting at the table on one of the wooden chairs.  
"You really ought to eat."Drake protested.  
"I'm not hungry."Zoey said.  
Ellis and Drake gave each other an understanding glance and Drake left the room without a word. Ellis walked to the table and sat opposite her.  
"What happened up there? With you and Nick?"He asked seeming more than a little concerned.  
"What do you mean?"Zoey wondered. Ellis gave her a glance that made her lean back in her chair and shake her head quickly.  
"No, no, nothing like that, Ellis, seriously. No."Zoey ranted. Ellis smiled calmly and leant back in his chair, mind at ease.  
"He was just upset."Zoey said after a few moments of silence.  
"About what?"He questioned.  
"His family."Zoey stated.  
"Oh. Are they dead?"He asked.  
"I don't think its fair for me to talk about it to anyone else considering it's surprising that he told _me_."Zoey explained.  
"Right, sorry."Ellis breathed, putting his hand through his hair and placing his hat back on his head.  
Just then Nick walked into the kitchen holding the rifle he'd used up on the roof in his hand, hanging down with the safety off.  
"What are you two talking about?"He asked in a firm tone.  
"Nothing."Ellis answered a little too quickly causing Nick to narrow his eyes and glare straight into Zoey's green ones.  
"You telling him about Anna?"He asked, his eyes glowering and his blood pressure rising.  
"No, I didn't say anything about her."Zoey told him.  
"Bull shit. You only came up there to get a good story to talk to your little boyfriend about didn't you?"He snapped.  
"No, actually I came up to see if you were okay."Zoey said clearly.  
"Shut the fuck up. Like you actually care how I am."He cursed again under his breath, mumbling more about Zoey, she turned away feeling isolated from the group as she has done since she ran into them back in Ohio. Ellis stood and turned to Nick.  
"No, YOU shut the fuck up."He said through gritted teeth.  
Nick rolled his eyes and stormed out of the kitchen. Ellis' gaze faded and he turned back to Zoey.  
"You alright?"He asked seeing Zoey sat with her head in her hands, elbows propped up on the table.  
She sat up straight and gave him a quick nod without actually turning to face him. Ellis bit his lip hard until he began to taste the coppery-tang of his own blood, realising he'd split his bottom lip.

...An hour later...

Zoey slung an axe over her back; she stuffed two boxes of ammunition into her pockets. She held two pistols; her hair was still down at her shoulders as she had lost the hair band which she HAD used to tie it up. Drake held a shot gun, ammunition was tucked into his dark green jacket. Ellis stood a few paces away from Drake, he was in between him and Zoey, an axe in his hands and a rifle slung over his back beside a med-kit. Nick was facing the door with his back turned to the others. He had his gun slung over his back but held something in his hands, although the others weren't sure what.  
Nick blinked back a few tears as he admired the creased picture which used to be in his wallet, the picture displayed his wife, Anna, her hair was long, past her shoulders, illuminating, she had dark blue eyes which seemed to match the shirt Nick was wearing. Beside her in the picture was a boy, he looked around the same age as Franklin was. His hair was light brown and half hidden under a beanie. His eyes the exact same shade of green as Nicks. He sniffled slightly; Ellis stepped forward to put his hand on Nicks shoulder caringly. Nick quickly folded the picture again and stuffed it into his blazer pocket, avoiding Ellis' glance.  
Nick took a deep breath before clearing his throat.  
"You guys ready?"He asked, still not turning to face them. Ellis was the only one to reply as the other merely nodded towards him in response.  
Nick opened the door and the survivors slipped out. The sky was still misty and grey clouds hid the sky.  
Drake and Nick led the way, down the road which had segments of paper being blown across it. Newspapers had been stood up in stacks although some escapee pieces of paper had joined the others being blown around. Black bags were piled up beside a few buildings, some marked with red crosses which the survivors took as a warning to stay away. There was a strong stench escaping the bags which made the survivors hold their noses as they passed by. Only a few zombies staggered around easily picked off by Drake and Nick who were still leading. Zoey seemed to be stronger today than she had been; the long sleep may have been on her side as she walked along behind Drake with ease. Sure her arm hurt was still bandaged and her ankles ached but at least she was moving. Ellis walked alongside her, his eyes darting around the road wearily. They came to crossroads, two signs hung above it from chains which rattled as the wind blew against them, tapping against the metal pole which they were attached to. Nick continued forwards causing the others to follow close behind him. The sun was still hidden behind the clouds making it feel a lot later which played tricks on the survivor's minds, making them feel tired. Drake was the first one to stop, pulling the bag from his shoulder and taking out some water which he chugged down in a matter of seconds. Nick demanded that they kept going and took the bag from Drake, slinging it over HIS shoulder to stop Drake from taking ALL of the supplies they had. Then they heard a roar, at first Zoey's eyes widened and darted around looking for a Tank. Then the group turned to the small sparse of trees that spread out around the grass verge on their right. A huge horde was hammering through the trees about to cross the verge and advance on them. Nick called out for the others to move, this was the most zombies he'd seen in one place before, these infected were probably people that had become stuck on the Mexican border, way back before they came through the wired fence. The infection was spreading quicker, well, that's how it seemed to the survivors.  
They had little time to prepare themselves as the horde of zombies crashed through the trees, running hungrily towards them. Their mouths surrounded by blood and their eyes pale green/grey. Zoey took the axe from her back and swung hard, slicing a few limbs off an infected creature. They stumbled back, allowing Zoey to knock their head clean off with the axe.  
Nick laid round after round into the infected. Shooting most of them directly in the face.  
"Chew on metal bloody demons!"Nick shouted, reloading his gun and hammering more bullets into the zombies. Drake pushed a round of bullets into his shotgun before shooting at a boomer which wobbled towards them. Although the bile covered Nick and Zoey in a green layer. Nick shot Drake a glare before the zombies gathered around him and Zoey, attracted by the bile. Ellis was a little way back near the grass verge, chopping through the zombies like they were just logs. Until something caught his eye, a charger had located its target and was already charging forwards, he turned realising it wasn't him. But seeing Zoey right in its path. She was still covered in bile and the horde had gathered around her. Ellis' blue eyes lightened in fear as he hit the last few zombies surrounding him away, he ran towards her, time seemed to have almost slowed down as he turned back seeing the charger getting closer. Zoey was still oblivious to the situation at hand as the bile had covered her eyes. He picked up the pace, sprinting towards her. The charger was only moments behind him; Ellis stumbled on something, tripping forwards. He staggered towards her holding out his hands, merely inches away. The charger roared loudly causing Zoey to look straight in its direction, still lost under the bile. Ellis pushed forwards hard, knocking Zoey roughly over, he forced her to the side catching her hip with his axe and scratching her slightly. She hit the ground a few paces away, but that was far enough as the charger missed her. But it didn't miss Ellis...


	14. Throwing punches

_The force was so strong. Trying to escape its grasp was suicide even if this was me at deaths door anyway. I had no choice but to be held in the mighty fist of the charger as it swept me up and across into what felt like a wall. I was forced backwards in the chargers fist, above its huge shoulder. Then it hammered me forwards into the wall, the concrete hit the side of my face sending shock waves into my nervous system. My ear drums echoed a high-pitched wail through my head as I was pummelled into the ground this time. The ground wasn't like the smooth surface of the wall, its hard; roughness cut my face as I was pushed into it again and again. My hearing was still gone and I had my eyes forced shut. Too afraid to open them. My heart was racing, not just for my life now but for Zoey's. If I died today, she'd be left to deal with Nick. He'd rip her apart with his words and treat her like nothing but another mouth to feed... I have to fight the urge to give up for her. She'd been through too much for me to leave her now. Once again I was thrown into the wall; I heard a snap but was too afraid to move to find out what it was. I hoped it wasn't too important for my survival. Although I should know what it was, my body seemed almost numb with pain. Pain everywhere. Nothing but it.  
My eyes begged to shut and my body had almost given up, I was hammered into the wall again and this time the charger let go, creating an even stronger force behind me as I slammed into the concrete. I came off the wall like a rag-doll; my body was lifeless and unmoving. Although I was breathing, my chest did little to rise or fall as if I was dead.  
The sky above me was turning light scarlet...Well, it was either scarlet or that was just my blood clotting around my eyes making it look scarlet. I gulped in a breath only to feel a thick pain in my stomach. I choked only to find blood sputtering out of my mouth. I thought it was all over, I could barely keep my eyes open, I couldn't hear the others around me as the roars of the charger and the blood seeping from my ears blocked out the sounds. The charger dropped me again, this time onto a softer surface... grass. I couldn't find the energy to move or even breath at that moment. My eyes fluttered, tugging on my eyelids wanting to close. I heard my conscience speaking to me, telling me to give up, to close my eyes. But I couldn't, not now. I attempted to push myself up, feeling a strong force laid over me I fell back, hitting my head on the grass again. Then the light seemed to fade._

Zoey rolled over, the horde had dispersed and Drake had led them off towards a river bank where he set off a pipe bomb. She rose to her feet clutching her hip where Ellis had scratched her, a red line crossed her side and left her limping slightly. She looked around until he saw Nick laying rounds into a charger which already lay slumped on the grass, dead. Then she noticed something, it was slumped across Ellis.

Zoey limped across the grass shooting away the passing zombies with her pistols. She reached the charger; falling upon her knees she tried to push it off of Ellis. The thick skinned beast was too heavy for her to move. Nick crouched down beside her and helped roll the charger off of the broken body which was Ellis. Nick tapped Zoey's shoulder gently as he got up and went to hold off the zombies.

"Ellis? Ellis can you hear me?"Zoey said putting her hand on the man's shoulder. Ellis' eyes lay shut, he coughed slightly and his eyes opened slightly, only just enough for her to see the same glassy blue glow of his irises.

"Zoey... I umm-"He began, but was cut off when Zoey began speaking again.

"You saved me."She said quietly, taking a med-kit from her back and pulling out bandages and tape. Ellis made a slight chuckle sound, bringing up more blood.

"I did, didn't I?"Ellis said seeming rather confused and surprised as well as very proud of himself. Zoey smiled, then examined him for wounds, realising that he'd broken his wrist.

"Zoey! Come on, tape the kid up, we have an apocalypse to spit on!"Nick shouted back at her from where he was hammering rounds into the infected creatures.

"Okay...Ellis do you think you can stand?"Zoey asked him. Ellis' eyes widened as if he hadn't heard her.

"Can you move?"She spoke clearly. Ellis nodded and she quickly tied the bandage around the side of arm to keep it from unravelling.

Zoey stood holding out her arms to him, her hands were covered in his blood but, it was an apocalypse, get over it. Ellis gripped tightly to her hands and allowed her to tug backwards; she put _all of_ her weight into pulling him. Almost falling backward into the grass after he was up. Ellis wobbled at first but he seemed to be moving along a lot better than be should be considering what he'd just been through. His hair was covered in rubble, his face had been hit black a blue, although the bright glow of his eyes seemed to still display on his face. All the pain he'd had, he'd managed to keep his eyes in high spirit.

Nick was holding the zombies away from them as Zoey helped Ellis gather his bearings, he soon had his axe back in his hands, taking it off his back and swinging it straight forwards slicing right through a zombies face, leaving only under their nose attached to the rest of their head. Zoey smiled at the quick recovery which Ellis seemed to have, although in the back of her mind she wondered if it was only an act he was putting on so he didn't worry her. Or he had something internal going on...

Before long Zoey was snapped back into reality hearing a shout beside her, Drake ran back to her side after throwing a molotov off into the distance towards a huge group of zombies. The survivors were now grouped. In a circle of four all facing outwards with their backs pressed to one another's. From the grass verge a skinny creature staggered out. Its hair ran down to its shoulders, barefooted and wearing awkward looking clothing.

"Spitter."Nick spoke.

"A what?"Drake questioned, he obviously hadn't been out far enough to come across one yet. Drake shot quickly at it feeling threatened. The green acid sprayed across them. Ellis managed to avoid it but a burn seemed to spread up Nick's leg as the acid singed his clothes.

Ellis reached into his pocket as the night seemed to grow over the trees, surrounding them in a pit of darkness. He pulled a jar of boomer bile from his jeans and turned to show Zoey. At first she was confused by what he wanted, as only a matter of minutes ago that was the stuff that blinded her causing Ellis to be pummelled into a wall by a huge monster.

"FUCK!"Nick yelled, staggering to the side and holding his leg as the acid burnt through layer after layer of skin. Zoey turned quickly to him and handed him a handful of bandages, which she _seemed_ to have an unlimited supply of, considering how many she'd given out and used already. She spun around again, quick enough so see a hunter crawling out over the verge towards Ellis; his back was turned to it as it approached. He was pre-occupied with the horde of zombies speeding through.

Zoey nudged him back and shot the hunter before it pounced; she staggered a little as Ellis almost fell over when she nudged him. Ellis turned to see the now _dead _hunter.

"I guess this makes us even?-"He smiled, swinging his axe through another zombie.

"-For now."Zoey agreed taking out her pistols and reloading with ease before shooting in sync with Ellis' axe swings. Ellis shook off a smile and returned his face to serious as Zoey wandered ahead, shooting through the walking dead bodies as they staggered around like mindless animals...Which, they sort of were. Something clicked in Ellis' mind. He cared for Zoey, and he realised that when he threw himself in front of the charger. But he knew that Zoey had already lost enough. If he was going to feel this way, he knew he couldn't just start _throwing punches_ at anything that comes near her.


	15. Pressure

The night was creeping above the trees and the survivors were still holding off the infected creatures as the crossed over the verge and advanced on them.  
As the horde started to divide, spreading around them their ammunition became surprisingly low. Zoey put away her pistols to save ammunition; she took her axe down from her back and continued swinging it into the zombies. Ellis was forced to use one hand to control HIS axe as his other hand was bandaged up tight and taped to the side in the same way Zoey bandaged her own wounds. Drake had completely run out of ammunition, he stood hitting off the zombies with his shotgun; he seemed so full of energy, like someone had just stabbed him with a shot of adrenalin. Zoey's gaze faded to the right where the river lay, dead infected were being carried downstream, face down, the water had almost turned red as the scarlet substance spread across it. Zoey's mind wandered in thoughts of the dead being taken down stream. They were all like them once. Just trying to escape the infection. Although these people obviously weren't immune. Then Zoey realised, they hadn't asked Drake if he was immune...

She snapped back to reality hearing Ellis calling her, she turned towards his voice seeing him gesturing behind her. Zoey swung her axe around before taking the time to look, taking a zombies head straight off with the sharpest groove of the axe. Before she could turn back to Ellis she felt something grip onto her shoulders and scratch her face. She heard hysterical laughs and realised it was a jockey.  
It forced her to walk towards the river, obviously planning on making her join the other dead bodies floating down stream, although she tugged hard to try and force it off the jockey had a firm hold on her. She screaming almost silently as the jockey scratched at her face. Ellis ran after her, they had reached the river and Zoey could tell, feeling the cold water soaking her socks. Ellis gripped his axe with both hands only to wince in pain as he bent his broken wrist feeling a sharp, long pain spreading up his veins. His eyes were welling up as he staggered towards Zoey, the numbness from the chargers attack had begun to wear off as pain started surrounding him. He attempted to lift his axe only to wince again as his wrist flexed. He took his rifle and aimed it carefully at the jockey on Zoey's shoulders. Quickly he shot a bullet; it flew towards her within seconds and went straight through the jockeys head, Ellis had to shoot it a number of times before it finally dropped off of her shoulders. Zoey wobbled backwards and held the side of her head; Ellis rushed to her side trying to hold her up despite the pain shooting up his wrist as he held onto her shoulders. Zoey caught her balance and Ellis loosened his grip allowing her to stand alone. Her face had scratches spreading up near her right ear. Just above her right eye was a long, thin cut which seemed deep, that was obviously where the jockey had attempted to hold on despite her efforts to pull it off.  
Nick was out of sight now, but they could still hear gun shots, meaning he was still alive. Ellis realised that Zoey was half in her own world as she turned around to face him, she almost looked lost. He took hold of her arm with his right hand leaving his left hand free and his axe across his back. He lightly tugged on her jacket sleeve to make her walk along with him. He sped up a little going towards the sound of Nicks bullets. He caught the glimpse of Drake running past and turned to see what he was running from, he let go of Zoey's jacket as the fear kicked in and his pulse picked up. A tank...

Zoey pulled out her two pistols and began to shoot in the monsters direction. Ellis took his rifle from his back and joined in the line of fire towards the tank. The tanks attention was immediately drawn to the two, Zoey tugged on Ellis' arm causing him to turn his attention to her and she gestured for him to start moving back. They both continued to shoot at the tank as they made their way towards Nick who had stopped at a wired fence, overgrown with dead ivy. Zoey backed into the ivy, causing some of the leaves to fall down into her hair. She flicked her hair to the side and faced the tank as it came closer and closer.  
She loaded both of her pistols ejecting the empty pack which she placed more bullets into before firing at the huge creature again. Nick was trying to cut through the wire fence with the axe that he had swiped from Ellis from where it stood against the fence where he dropped it after another shock of pain went up his veins.

The monster dug its fists into the swampy grass and trenched towards them angrily. Small red marks had been made all over its chest where the bullets had hit it but bounced off of its shield-like skin. Nick had made a meter high gap in the fence as he ripped at it roughly with his hands, slicing cuts in his palms. His eyes narrowed and he winced after every few wires dragged through his skin. Drake shot at the tank using the shot gun Nick had given to him. His aim had improved although he still needed to speed up reloading. Ellis was slumped back against the fence trying to console himself as the pain racked his body leaving his hands feeling numb and ice-cold. It was as if a sheet of ice had been moulded around him, he was unable to move or speak, his bottom lip trembled and his eyes were blood-shot. Nicks voice was muffled beside him as his ear drums were still trying to adjust after the chargers attack. He felt Zoey tug on his shirt, pulling his attention to her she said something which was once again muffled; he didn't understand a word the girl was saying. Her eyes seemed concerned as his face remained pale with the blankest expression spread across it. Zoey huffed feeling a little more than frustrated before the tank swung its arm forwards forcing Zoey backwards and straight through the fence despite the gap Nick was already making for them. She landed across a narrow gravel footpath. The force dragged her across the gravel leaving thin scratches leading across the right side of her face. She winced and pushed her eyes shut as the razor-like stones tore through her skin.  
Once she had come to a complete stop Zoey put her hands firmly on the sharp gravel stones and attempted to push herself up. Her eyes caught onto something on her left as she pushed upwards, more infected creatures were advancing towards her. Zoey rushed to stand and brushed some gravel and dead ivy from her hair as she flicked it aside. She looked back to the others who had managed to set the tank on fire, leaving the huge beast shouting out in pain as they hammered rounds into it. She staggered to the fence, pushing her fingers through the gaps only just reaching Ellis' shirt. She tugged him backwards, pulling his attention. She gestured for him to get through the fence, unsure on if his hearing had improved yet.  
The tank fell to the ground with a loud thud which rippled off shaking the ground around the other infected creatures and the survivors. Ellis crawled through the gap in the fence, almost falling over as he emerged on the other side. His hair was lopsided on the left, then Zoey realised, where was his hat?  
She turned to look back at the fence but it hadn't become caught on the wires, she pushed her fingers back through the gaps in the wire and pressed her forehead against the cold metal. She gazed through until she noticed Ellis' hat lying on the ground beside the dead charger which must have taken it off during its attack. Nick had also climbed through the fence at this time; Drake was the only one on the other side. Until Zoey climbed back through, she stumbled at first as the zombies crowded around her; she gathered her bearings and forced her legs to take her towards the charger. Zoey knocked back most of the zombies, her mind and green eyes focused on the hat which lay on the ground, only a few meters away from her. Zoey reached out and took the hat in between her index finger and thumb. She turned back to the fence; Nick was shouting curses at her and her stupidity as always, his eyes blazing. He was holding up the fence with his hands even as his blood began to trickle down the wire because of the sharp points. Drake was on the same side as her waiting for her to go through as if he was waiting to follow.  
She pushed her body forward with one more ounce of strength. Zoey skidded across the mud and in a very "matrix" style under the fence, clutching the hat tightly. Zoey stood up again and exhaled tiredly before looking up at Ellis from where she stood in front of him. She held out the hat to him and he took it with an almost dazed smile...maybe that was just his concussion though. Ellis took the hat thankfully from Zoey's hand and placed it back on his head pushing out a few loose strands of brown hair to form a little fringe on one side.  
"I owe you for this miss."He smiled.  
"Of course you do."Zoey replied sarcastically before turning back to Drake as he climbed through the fence. Nick was holding off the infected creatures as they came up behind them from the gravel footpath. Just as Drake gripped the fence with his hands to keep himself stable as he stepped through an infected woman came up behind him and sunk her teeth into his shoulder. Zoey screamed and her eyes widened, seeing the life in Drakes eyes almost fade as the moment ended. She pointed her pistol straight at it and shot it right between the eyes. Drake made a pained sound before staggering onto the gravel footpath beside the others. He held his shoulder in pain, his eyes were teary but he managed to blink them back. Blood seeped from his shoulder even through his navy blue jacket you could see the blood loss. His once glassy blue eyes almost faded into a dark yellow to green colour within seconds. That was when Zoey realised... He_ wasn't_ immune.


	16. Conspiracy

Drake stumbled behind the others as they weighed through the long grass which led along towards a woodland area which consisted of conifer and fir trees. In the distance was the outline of what appeared to be a park.  
Nick was mumbling to himself, mainly curses and some Zoey didn't even understand the meaning of. Ellis was limping a little behind them, after being given some adrenaline from Drake the pain had almost been numbed although the side effect was that he lost feeling in his right leg almost immediately. Zoey held her pistols in each hand, her eyes scanning the woods as they followed the trail which was only a pressed down line of dead yellow grass to the park. Drake's jacket shoulder was torn, the fabric had been bitten through with sharp fang-like teeth, his blood surrounded the left over fabric on the shoulder of his jacket, staining it in an almost purple colour as the red blood layered itself in thick patches on the blue jacket. Running down his arm and out of his sleeve was his blood, although he had his hand pressed firmly across the bite blood managed to trickle down, dripping from his finger-tips. He walked slightly further back than Ellis who seemed to have made a full recovery, but that was the numbness, his body was ready to break, shatter like glass if so much as a mere nudge touched him. His face was drained of colour but his eyes were still as bright and warm as always, his smile had faded but his eyes were still exposing his inner happiness which couldn't be tainted by the apocalypse or even the fact that his body was broken and aching inside. It was almost pitch black by the time they made it to the playground; Zoey sat on the edge of a swing and helped Ellis bandage his cuts. Drake sat up on a park bench where he pulled a med-kit off of his back and opened up the side compartment pulling out a needle and thread. He put a knot through the thread once it had been attached to the needle and wincing as he began he started stitching up his shoulder. The bite was deep, his eyes narrow every few threads as he hit a sensitive nerve and a shock of pain flowed up to his neck. He pushed the needle which was now tied with his own blood into his skin, pulling it out on the other side of the bite and pulling it tight so that the two pieces of skin met. Drake winced again and decided to stop after he felt a layer of heat spread across him. Like some sort of fever. He rested his head against the arm rest of the bench and as his breathing evened out Zoey noticed that he'd fallen asleep. Ellis suddenly rose from the edge of the swing as a painful spasm led up his back and through his chest. His eyes tugged to close and his legs almost gave in. Zoey rushed to his side quickly and put her hands under his arms to try and keep him up. But his weight was too much for even Zoey to take, she stumbled backwards slightly as her hands gripped tightly on his shirt from where her arms lay under his. The shock from the chargers attack had worn off, now Ellis just seemed less himself, the smile had left his lips but still remained in his glassy eyes as Zoey helped him back to the swing, he gave a gentle nod to her as a thank you once they'd made it to the swings again. Zoey swung her legs on the swing beside Ellis', her mind wandering back to Bill and the others; she had re-lived the last moments of their lives again and again in her dreams. Throughout the day her thoughts would be tainted by Bill's words, his voice, him. Like a father figure to her and now, just like her biological father, he was gone...

Nick had perched himself on the top bar of the climbing frame, the monkey-bars hung on his right. He had his gun held firmly in his hands, he lay, chest against the cold metal of the climbing frame roof, the gun pointed out at the walkers as they wandered aimlessly like newborn ducklings. They hadn't seemed to notice the survivors hanging around in the park, the zombies just walked by, passing the fence, what dragged them in was Nick's unsteady gun shots he fired which shaky hands, his breath was still heavy and his eyes were also weighed down by the night sky which crept above the park. Ellis' head was resting against the chilled chains of the swing, the gentle movement, forwards and backwards caused his eyes to flutter shut for a moment. The night wind breathed against him and his hair flew back in a wave, like the ocean. His hat was knocked off by the harsh breeze and landed a way back behind him and Zoey in the sandy pit where children would usually go about their daily play. Zoey was in a world of her own and hadn't noticed the hat flying past her; Ellis felt the cold chill of the night touch his ear lobes once the hat was gone and no longer keeping his ears hidden from the cold. But he was too tired to even attempt to fetch it.

Broken paintings, ripped and tearing at the seams, the sky was like a fabric curtain, being pulled above them, the darkness shadowed down and illuminated the crystalic blue in Ellis' tired eyes, making it difficult for Zoey to break her lingering glance.

Although Zoey's eyes remained locked into his, her mind was somewhere else... She finally blinked. '_Fuck have I been staring at him like this for long?_' she thought to herself once she saw Ellis' eyes staring back at her. The night seemed to make his eyes look a lot darker, which caused Zoey's heart to almost leap right out of her chest; she gulped and turned her gaze to Drake who was still asleep on the bench. They had all managed to block out the sounds of gun shots as Nick shot the walkers just as a pastime, he was obviously overtired and most likely had drugs in his system, Zoey knew she smelt something on him earlier that day. He's _blatantly_ high.

Ellis sniffled and fidgeted on the swing; he felt his head and remembered that his hat had been swept away by the continuous wind.

Drake began to stir in his sleep, his eyes fluttered open and his lips parted as if he was about to speak. His hands were shaking and his bottom lip began to tremble, his eyes wandered towards where Zoey sat watching him, watching him? It seemed to be more like a staring contest... But with more..._Threat?_

Drake rose slowly and with obvious pain as he did so from the bench, keeping his eyes fixed on Zoey's. She began to get uncomfortable with his glance; she gazed down and dug her converse into the sand beneath her, doing everything she could to stop her eyes from re-locking with Drakes. The tension in the air picked up, as did the wind, Drake pulled his hood up over his head as the cold chill became too much for him to take. His eyes seemed almost yellow, and the bite on his shoulder was still a shade of sickening yellow/orange. Zoey went to look back up at him when Nick spoke up.

"Don't _fucking_ move."He said in a slow, but forceful tone.

Zoey did as he said even though she still felt like punching him in the face for the way he'd been acting from the moment she had the _misfortune_ to run into the _heartless_ dickhead.

"_...Drake?"_Ellis said in a tired and broken voice from where he sat, perched on the edge of the swing with his forehead pressed against the cold metal chains, hard enough to leave a slight imprint of the chains on his face.

Drake's eyes flickered to Ellis, going quickly back to his normal blue eyes, the same as Franklins, then switching back to yellow. Drake's hood slipped down a little, almost shielding his eyes from sight, his lips parted again ready to speak, but all that left his mouth was a faint growl.


	17. Crushcrushcrush

It was obvious that's the Drake they once knew. Well, at least to a first name base, was no longer the Drake they had trusted with their lives. To defend, each one of them would have let him watch their backs in this monstrous word in which they live in now.  
Drake stood with a slight hunch in his back, his shoulders were up and his neck was bent so that his head leant down and forward. His hood hid the crystalic irises which shone illuminating yellow. His hoody was slightly unzipped at the front exposing the harsh tear and bloody shoulder which have been bitten into by an infected walker. The bite marks were sickening to see, torn pieces of skin hung delicately from his shoulder, only attached by a small piece of flesh. Dark circles surrounded his eyes which gave off a very negative aura. Zoey watched him cautiously, she had risen from the swing and now stood which one hand entwined in the swing chains and the other brushed lightly against one of the pistols which lay in her pocket.  
Ellis was sitting on the swing, his gun pointed straight between Drake eyes, he seemed to be looking at nothing, it was like Drake was invisible and Ellis was simply holding his gun towards the air, emptiness, nothing. But it wasn't nothing, despite Ellis' lack of concentration due to the nights events, he still had his gun in the right position to take Drakes face clean off. Ellis' fingers were shaking slightly due to the cold and his hair lay messy on his head. The sky was beclouding, the only light was emitting from a tall flickering streetlight which stood a few meters way from the grey barred fence of the park. Nick reloaded his shotgun which caused Zoey and Ellis to glance back once they heard the hollow-sounding click. He gave them an understanding nod before turning his green eyes back to Drake as he stood, chest rising and falling quickly. He opened his mouth to speak and his eyes flickered blue before back to piecing yellow. Drake turned his head to Zoey, creating a slight crack sound as his neck twisted. His eyes locked with hers, Zoey took a step back before taking a clear look at Drakes face. He seemed mangled, disfigured slightly. The dark circles which surrounded his illuminating and almost hypnotising eyes were thickening, as if growing upon his face. Zoey felt a sudden pain in the pit of her stomach and she gripped tighter to the swing chain to keep herself up. Her other hand shifted to hold her stomach as the pain drove downwards and caused her to wince a little. Ellis' eyes caught Zoey's sudden discomfort and he stood to help her. Ellis took her hand away from the chain and carefully fit his fingers between hers so that he could get a better grip on her hand. Once he's entwined their fingers he took her slightly behind him, keeping his eyes fixed on Drake. Nick began taking his blazer off, exposing a blue shirt, half tucked in and half hanging out of his trousers. He took the blazer in his right hand and in one smooth motion he tossed it to Ellis, he caught it awkwardly as if he hadn't expected it. His gun wobbled slightly as he attempted to keep hold of it and Zoey's hand as well as catch the blazer.

Nick cleared his throat and glared straight at Drake, his skin seemed pale and the darkness created cimmerian shadows across his face and beneath his chin. His hands stuck out of each of his jacket arms, finger-tips visibly shaking and his teeth were either chattering or practicing a canine-like tearing apart action, his jaw stiffened into a boyish square-looking pose.  
Drake clenched his teeth creating a grimacing sound which made Zoey shudder and her eye-lids force themselves to shut. He faced Nick and slowly bent his knees so that he was crouching, his feet were a couple paces apart and his hood hung over his left eye, exposing his right. His dusty blonde hair appeared brown and flaring in the bedimmed park.  
Zoey's left hand was still locked with Ellis'; he seemed to have really warm hands considering the temperature out here. Her hands were like ice; her face was pale and her bottom lip trembled in the cold.  
Ellis' lips remained straight, his face was expressionless. His eyes were fixated on Drake but it was like he was looking right through him.

A smile tugged at Drakes dry and slightly chapped lips, his shoulders remained hunched as he took a cautious step towards Nick. Zoey attempted to be as quiet as possible as she loaded her pistol, letting a few bullets slide through her fingers and tap against the grey cracked concrete. Suddenly Drake pounced forwards Nick, his claws extending in the air, his eyes glinted orange as his body plunged towards Nick.

Zoey stumbled backwards as she fumbled for her other pistol. She caught herself and aimed for Drake, but he was too fast. Within a few seconds he was on Nick and tearing his shirt away from his skin. Nick shouted and thrashed his arms towards Drakes face. Drake had the blue sleeve of Nick's shirt in his mouth. His teeth were sharp. Like fangs. Blood dripped sickeningly from the blue sleeve and onto Nick's throat. Ellis was laying rounds into Drakes back. But for some reason it didn't get him to stop. A gathering of howls echoed through the trees and into the park, pushing the metal gate slightly causing it to emit a light squeak as it had obviously become rusty in the rain.

Ellis turned hearing the gate squeak again and a few stomps behind them. Resting his hand on Zoey's shoulder for a little support he noticed the horde advance into the playground. He pulled his hand away from Zoey's shoulder causing her to rock back slightly before running towards Nick as Drake crouched on him, tearing him slowly apart. She hit her pistol hard against Drakes head creating a thin red line which soon left blood dripping from his head. Drake turned to her for a moment, taking his eyes off of Nick and retracting his claws suddenly. His eyes were illuminating yellow and he took his hand to swing at Zoey. He grazed across her throat causing her to choke a little and fall backwards. Ellis was too busy holding off the horde to notice. Drake swung again, this time extending his claws and leaning towards her, using the sobbing Nick as a support. Ellis turned immediately after hearing the claws rip through Zoey's jacket. She screamed and stumbled backwards. He loaded his gun quickly and with one final ounce of strength he pulled the trigger and fell onto the grassy verge surrounding the park.

The bullet tore through Drake's skull; blood seeped from his right eye as if a river was running straight through his head. Zoey didn't have time to react. She felt her body being lifted off the ground, her hearing was fuzzy was she was dragged away from the park. Endless shadows climbed over her as they distanced themselves with the walkers. She heard a car door swing open and felt herself being pushed inside. Before she could blink away the confusion the car started and the drained, lifeless bodies of Nick and Drake were left in the run-down playground as the zombies ambled aimlessly through the conifer and red wood trees towards the park where the fresh flesh belonging to Nick awaited savouring...


	18. Misery business

It was daybreak. Ellis was nodding tiredly as his eyes attempted to close. His head was pounding, eyes stinging and thick red lines surrounded his glassy blue irises. His entire body was aching. His ankle could hardly manage to keep his foot pressed to the break as the vehicle came to a barrier. Ellis sucked in a shaky breath and glanced to his right, causing a bitter click to resound up his jaw. Zoey was asleep, her head pressed to the window and tears stained her pale cheeks with shiny trails. Ellis yawned, causing his eyes to well-up slightly. Unclipping the door he climbed out of the car, exposing his bare neck and face to the bitter morning chill. The sky was still quite dark. It created a lost atmosphere and a slight sickness in Ellis' stomach. He staggered towards the barrier and gripped the cold edges with his fingers. The barrier was heavy. He lifted it slowly until it was above his shoulders. He then pushed upwards causing it to be forced towards the metal stand and locked into place. He sighed tiredly and turned back to the car.

Zoey's eyes fluttered open, exposing her emerald irises lined by light red. She yawned, her eyes still slightly closed. Her lip split as she did so and she pursed her lips to soothe the stinging. She heard the door unclip to her left. Slowly she turned her head in that direction and locked eyes with Ellis as he climbed back into the car.  
"Mornin' sleeping beauty." He forced a smile to peak on the edges of his mouth and his eyes seemed to brighten a little.  
"Not much of a morning." Zoey replied, her voice croaky as she sat herself up.  
Ellis sighed and locked the doors and windows.  
"Do we know where we're heading?" He asked. Zoey turned and smiled childishly.  
"I don't even know where we are Ellis..." She let out a short and painful laugh. Her throat was in desperate need of water.  
"I guess we could head for the airport?" She said finally brushing her index finger across the frosted glass leaving a clear line going diagonally down the surface of the window.  
"Sure. But, we aren't in much of a hurry right?" Ellis spoke raising an eyebrow and turning fully facing Zoey.  
"I guess not." She replied hesitantly.  
"How 'bout we get some real food?" He questioned rubbing his left eye a little as it welled up as the bright rising light bounced off the rear-view mirror into his eyes.  
"That isn't such a bad idea."She sighed, sinking further back into her seat.

It wasn't long until they reached a road-side diner; the place was completely deserted, luckily for them. Ellis and Zoey staggered tiredly into the diner. It was themed like the old town Wichita, Kansas. The lights were dangling and crystalic. The seats were all American-diner themed. Bright red and lined with white leather. The tables were marble. Set with salt and pepper in clearly labelled jars of blue and red. The floor was tiled which black and white retro squares to fit the same style. On the counter was a tip jar with a fancy-looking red ribbon lining the lid. Behind the counter was a tall cabinate with labelled whisky bottles and ale. To the far right was a chilled chest freezer containing ice and wine bottles. Along with beer cans and soda. Zoey was speechless as she looked around the diner. It was like a childhood memory. When she was younger her father would take her out for road trips at the weekends. Taking the RV, down south where they'd stop for a late breakfast. The pictures on the walls reminded her of her mother's bedroom, retro yet classy with a hint of modern. The generic structure of the diner was almost compelling.

Ellis lifted himself onto one of the red spinning island chairs. Pushing his AK-47 across the table he rested his forehead against the cold surface of the island. The silver construction soothed the growing headache racking his temples.

Zoey had wandered through to the kitchen, looking around for something to eat. Her eyes caught sight of a wooden door with a metal latch overhanging on the right side. Unlatching the door Zoey stepped inside. Three walls were shelved. Wooden planks which almost seemed too straight to be self-stacked in such a forgotten and empty place.

Ellis took an ice-cold can of bitter beer from the chest freezer. Sitting back beside the island he sighed and pulled open the cap. The longer he sat holding the drink the sleepier he felt. His eyes were shutting as he sat there. He had lost feeling in his legs and he could no longer support his lower body. Before he was able to put the drink down it slipped from his grasp and hit the floor loudly. The drink spread across the tiles and sunk beneath the faulty ones.

Zoey was startled by the sudden sound of the can rolling across the tiles and the drink seeping through the scattered cracks. She ambled out of the store cupboard and back into the main diner. Ellis' head rested against the marble surface of the island. The island chair had skidded back and become caught on the corner of a retro jukebox. Zoey slumped into a chair and sighed. She didn't feel the need to wake Ellis any time soon. She allowed her eyes to fix on a faded mark which had been made on the wall adjacent. Without realising she began to wander into a cloud of thought.

_Glancing to the left she saw a dark looking building. Ash filled her lungs as she attempted to inhale. The dusty streets were lined with paper. Thousands of lost letters, notes, flyers. Before long there came a loud sound. Echoing around her. Creating a harsh wind which blew back her jacket. It was a cold wind. Almost taking her off of her feet. The sky was darkening as a metal bird flew above her. A helicopter. Its propellers seemed to slow down and the metal bird lowered to the streets. Heading for a deserted crossroads. Zoey pulled her jacket around herself and narrowed her eyes trying to make out the people inside the helicopter. The subtle green of her irises seemed to lighten as she focused on one person. A tall man jumped from the side of the helicopter. They came towards her quickly. She narrowed her eyes more until she was able to make out the glassy blue of Ellis' eyes. She exhaled in an almost thanking manner. Her body seemed heavy at that time and her legs could hardly carry her no matter how much she wanted to run towards him. Just to have him again, there. With her.  
Ellis' arms wrapped around Zoey and pulled her into a much needed hug. Tears streamed down her blemished face and onto Ellis' shirt. Before she could feel herself moving she was inside the helicopter. It began lifting into the air and a distant scream sounded. A horde. The loud propellers caused the harsh wind to pick up again, this time it blew the papers lining the streets across the roads. She glanced down to the road beneath her. Merciless creatures had gathered there, their jaws aching for human flesh. Without realising how close it was Zoey leant forward to look closer. But then she saw it. Drake's twisted soul in a zombie's body. His eyes were watching her closely. Head turning, rolling on his neck as if trying to intimidate her. She leant too far. Her hands slipped from the metallic surface and she fell. She kept falling. Waiting for her body to hit the ground had gone on for what felt like hours. She heard shouting. Ellis' voice. Zoey opened her eyes for a second. Just enough to see the ground as she slammed into it. So many cracks. So much pain. _

"Zoey!"  
The brunette girl looked up to see Ellis stood above her. Holding his AK-47, a concerned expression pasted across his face.  
"I'm sorry, what?"She asked, rubbing her eyes and wiping away a few escaping tears.  
"Nightmare?"He wondered sitting down beside her.  
"Sort of."She sighed.  
"Let me guess... Helicopter, Drake...Falling to your death?"Ellis said nonchalantly. Zoey looked up at him. Her eyes glowing in dismay.  
"You had the dream to?!"She asked, her mouth hanging open slightly.  
"No, you just talk in your sleep."He said giving her a consoling pat on the shoulder as he stood up.  
"We should probably get going before it gets too late."Ellis told her holding up a bag which he had filled with supplied to last them a couple of days. Zoey effortlessly lifted herself from the island chair and followed Ellis towards the door. Taking one last look at the ever so familiar diner...


	19. We are broken

Rain fell like splinters, hammering against the roof of the car. Ellis had his palms firmly grasping the wheel as the road they travelled on seemed never-ending. How long would they be out here? Nights after nights, days after days. Only now was it becoming too much to handle. Zoey was taken by a cloud of thought. Her head was pressed to the icy window, her eyes, fixed on the empty roads trailing off from theirs. The avenues and streets all leading in different directions. The sky was hidden by grey clouds which swarmed over buildings along with a growing mist. It reflected the tension and created a ghostly feeling in the town they had come to.  
"Where are we? Its been hours."Zoey spoke sincerely, blinking her attention away from outside.  
"South Dakota, I think."Ellis told her taking one hand from the wheel and reached into the bag in-between the two. Taking out a can of cola he pressed his thumb to the cap and tore it from the top. Zoey yawned as she turned and put her head back again.  
"You need to sleep."She told him giving him an honest look and lowered her eyebrow.  
"Nono, I'm fine. You worry about yourself now m'am."Ellis forced a smile to reach his mouth, although his eyes didn't do much smiling. Not like they usually did.

They came to a bridge. Memories wandered through Zoey's mind. Images flashed in her eyelids, leaving her without an escape from the dark memories exploring her mind. Ellis glanced over to her and stiffened his jaw.  
"You all right?"He questioned switching gears and crossing into the left lane, despite the law and all.  
"Urm, I'm fine. Just- ... Don't worry."Zoey stuttered putting her hands over her eyes and pressing her palms down roughly causing her eyes to sting with pained tears.  
It was becoming too much for her to handle. If they didn't find a way out of this soon she'd be sure to end it all. She'd lost too many people. Too much pain had racked her bones and chilled her veins. Freezing blue blood in her arteries. Zoey yawned as she turned and put her head back again, shutting her eyes only to hear a loud thudding echoing around her. She shot up and her eyes darted to Ellis. His eyes were already bloodshot and fixed on hers. Ellis slowly readjusted the rear-view mirror and examined the area behind the car. He saw nothing, just an empty road with a few parked cars at the side lines and black bags tied up around the verge of grass. Then a thud brought his eyes back to the mirror. A tank. Ellis flinched and pushed his foot to the acceleration. The car sped up the road, catching the tanks attention even more than before. It roared, its fists pounded into the ground as it dragged itself towards them.  
"Ohhshit..."Ellis said as one word, not allowing time for a pause. Zoey was forced backwards as they sped up. Faster and faster. Ellis heard the roaring tank edging closer and closer. Then a wandering group of zombies came into sight. Hundreds. Walking aimlessly up the road and across the grass in search for food. Zoey tightened her seatbelt and gripped the handle of the door in a terrified manner. Infected creatures hit the bonnet of the car and were thrown over the top as they drove even faster. Ellis refused to let the mounds of zombies stop him getting them to safety. He exhaled frustratedly and forced his foot to hit the brakes, but nothing happened. The car came closer to a metal barrier as again he pressed down the brakes.  
"Oh crap. Brakes are cut!"Ellis shouted as sweat fell across his forehead. Zoey breathed and held on tightly.  
The car smashed against the barrier and turned to the right, spinning a little and Ellis managed to get it back on the road. His hands were shaking violently as the fear racked him.

More and more infected creatures slammed into the car and flew over and around it. Guts sprawling across the road behind them. The tank seemed to get closer and closer, digging its fists deeply into the concrete.  
"We can't keep this up for long."Ellis turned to her honestly and said. His eyes were glassy and near terror-filled tears. Zoey felt her voice catch in her throat and she reached for Ellis' AK-47. Leaving her pistol firmly in the leathery holster on her thigh. She leant towards the window and stabbed it hard with the back of Ellis' gun. The glass shards scattered onto the concrete and across Zoey's lap. A few flicked back in the wind and scratched her face.  
Ellis watched. her nervously as he witnessed her actions. She leant out of the gap, finding her elbow's plunged into broken glass she winced and lifted her arms from the ledge. She hung her upper torso out of the window and loaded the AK-47. One shot. The tank screamed. Its mighty arms dug into the concrete and ripped a clump from the ground. Its muscles flexed as it lifted the concrete into the air and above its small and menacing-looking face. Zoey's hair flew backwards and without her hair band it was free to move where ever it wished. She cleared her throat and held down the trigger hard. Ignoring the cut across her finger which stung as she gripped the gun.  
"Zoey, be careful!"Ellis yelled from where he sat attempting to drive the car to safety and avoid the frequent gas mains and zombie groups. Zoey turned back to him, her hair flaring wildly in the wind caused by the fast vehicle.  
"An old friend once said the same thing. However those her his _last _words."She said slowly before turning back and aiming at the tank again. She gripped the trigger and let bullets fly through the ashy air. Towards the tank. The bullets hit its shield-like skin but bounced off like rubber. It flexed and roared. Raging closer and closer. Sinking its huge fists into the ground, bringing dust and stones into the air in its trail.  
Ellis swerved past a turned over car, infested by the infected crawling over it in search for flesh. His breath hitched and he turned the wheel quickly. Almost throwing Zoey out of the window.  
"_You_ be careful!"She shouted to him as she gripped the side mirror to keep her balance and shot round after round at the raging creature. Zoey spotted a gas canister lying beside the road. And another passing them. This road was littered with them. And she had a good idea of how to recycle them.

Closing her right eye she focused on a canister a few yards in front of the tank. Reloading she let a bullet go and it flew towards the canister. Skimming across the side leaving a silver trail over the edge. She slumped backwards tiredly and defeated.  
The tank pounded its fists into the concrete and raged towards the car, faster and faster. Its fist slammed into a gas canister and it was engulfed in flames. The tank roared and swung its huge fists around. Ellis watched through the rear-view mirror as it staggered to the right and cried in shouts.  
"Ellis watch the road!"Zoey shouted as she saw an overturned car and a group of infected creatures running towards them. Ellis' glassy eyes darted to the road. But it was too late. They slammed into the creatures and the car. They spun. Out of control. Turning over and over. Zoey was thrown backwards. The gun slipped out of her hands and she winced as the car span continuously. Ellis' head hit the wheel and he felt his temples sting and his eyes burn. She was only able to catch his gaze once more. Before it all went black...


	20. The only exception

Zoey lay amidst the broken metal and scattered ash. Smoke billowed out above her head. Flickering flames caused shadows to cast across her pale face. She slowly opened her eyes causing pain to renounce through her veins. The adrenaline still pumped through her as if the past events hadn't taken place. She lifted her head from the ground and realised that she was lying in the turned over car. In fact, she was lying across the shattered windscreen. Her palms dug into shards of glass and her stomach lurched painfully. She winced and lifted her hands away. Her eyes were forced to shut again as ash blew into them. She brought her sleeve to her eyes are rubbed hard. Sniffling, she opened her eyes once again. Instantly falling on Ellis.  
He'd been thrown out of the car and was now lying amongst debris. His leg was bent in the wrong direction and his arm was bleeding. She watched him. He was unmoving. Zoey blinked away the painful sensation of the smoke.  
Slowly, carefully, she crawled. Pushing her body through the shattered window and onto the soft grass. Her heart thumped in her chest and she choked painfully. Causing blood to stain her lower lip. She whined in pain. The flames still shadowed her face. The fire had spread around the car. Amber snake tongues dancing around in a circle surrounding the area in which they had tumbled to a stop.  
Ellis still lay motionless, the longer this continued the faster Zoey's pulse became. She continued to shuffle across the cold, soft grass. Taking as much of the smokeless air into her lungs as she remained near the ground.

She finally reached Ellis' broken body. His eyes were tightly closed and his lips were cracked. The smile which had always remained in his eyes was gone and his face displayed no expression. Zoey let out a choked sob. She crawled up beside him and sat herself up. Putting her hands across Ellis' torso she pulled him onto her lap where she held him tightly. As though he was the only thing she had left to hold on to. She pressed her head against his and sobbed quietly. Her hair draped over his face, she sniffled and gulped back the last sob. Her arms were draped around his slender body. He wasn't awake. But he wasn't asleep. But he was completely aware of both worlds. Zoey pulled her head away and looked around. Fire was everywhere. Dead bodies scattered and a few infected creatures staggered around in the distance.  
"Please wake up."She pleaded. Her tears falling on Ellis' neck.  
"-I can't do this on my own."She cried.  
The heat was growing around them. Every ounce of strength was now gone from Zoey's body. She inhaled shakily, causing tears to fall once more onto Ellis. Examining the surroundings again Zoey noticed the infected creatures were walking away... They hadn't noticed their presence. Either that or they didn't give a damn as they felt sorry for them. But its probably the first guess.  
Zoey blinked back the remaining tears and looked down at the unconscious on her lap.  
"Look-"she sniffled.  
"I don't know if you can hear me or not but if you can-"she stopped and coughed. Wiping blood from her mouth she looked back at the boy.  
"You can't leave me. Not now. Not now that I know-"she stopped again and blinked for a long moment.  
"-Not now that I-... I know how I feel."She finished.  
She let out a cold and joyless short laugh. Full of nerves and sadness.  
"I can't-... I'm-"  
"I love you."She said quickly. Eyes closed and breath quick.  
Ellis stirred, he heard flames simmering around him. But he couldn't find the energy to move. He felt warmth on his right side. And he felt something cold hit his throat. Causing his eyes to flicker open. It was Zoey's tear.  
"Zo'?"He choked.  
The girl glanced up, her green eyes locked into glassy blue ones.  
"Ellis-"she breathed. Her voice cut out and she felt her fingertips go numb.  
Ellis attempted to move upwards but felt his body reject this and he fell back onto Zoey's lap.  
"Don't try to move."She told him.  
Ellis didn't break eye contact with her, the feeling was indeed mutual. They only had each other to hold onto now. And maybe that was all they needed.  
"Zoey, I- I-"  
"I know."She said attempting to keep the tears from stinging her eyes again.  
She leant down and pressed her forehead against Ellis'. She found comfort in his natural scent. Something she was able to cling onto through all of this. They hadn't broken eye contact and Ellis was now losing himself in Zoey's warmth. Especially when he felt so cold.  
Zoey lifted her forehead, only for a moment as she felt Ellis' hand entwine around hers. He tugged her down again lightly with the little energy he had. He closed his eyes as his lips brushed against hers for only a second. But that was all it took. He felt warmth surround him and his eyes fixed on hers. Zoey let out a nervous laugh and leant away. Trying to avoid eye contact for a moment. When she turned back Ellis' eyes had closed and he seemed motionless once again. Her hand was still resting in his but it was cold. Really cold.

She choked as she attempted to speak. The realisation of flames and danger renounced and she was drawn to her surroundings once again.  
Ellis was unable to open his eyes again, but he allowed the warmth to swallow him. He was carried into sweet oblivion.  
Zoey breathed shakily and looked around. The dancing flames were trickling down the debris that surrounded them. Then, admist the flickering flames and shards of glass she saw; the tank. Its body was arched and pained. Its left arm was connected by only a slither of flesh. It was dying. But it refused to go down without a fight. Zoey's breath hitched and she fumbled around for Ellis' AK-47. But it was lost in the debris. She then remembered her pistol, safely resting in her holster. She lifted herself for a moment and pulled the pistol out from beneath Ellis' body. She fumbled for the trigger to find it needed reloading. Zoey pulled it back, glancing up at the tank every second. Her heartbeat quickened and her mouth went dry. The ash filled her lungs and the flames illuminated her face for the tank to see. Its mighty fists sunk deep into the debris. Its eyes glowered angrily and it sped up in a rage towards them.  
Zoey held up her pistol in one hand. Having no feeling in her other hand, it had gone cold and limp.  
She shot one bullet. It hit the tank in the rib cage but did nothing to slow it down. Again. Its arm. It did nothing. Once more. In its leg. It roared. Gaining speed. Zoey felt tears sting her cheeks and the heat of the fire getting warmer.  
She shot her last remaining bullet as the tank forced itself forward. She dropped the pistol beside Ellis' leg and watched it speed towards them.  
A bright light hit her left eye. Like a helicopter light. But it wasn't. It shone behind her. Brightly. Blindingly.  
Suddenly bullets hammered into the tanks body. It roared with pain. The silver bullets were forced into its breaking body. Voices were heard, distant and shallow. Before long the tank dropped onto the concrete with a thud and its body arched across the grey debris.

Zoey breathed in shakily but found no energy left to breath again. She heard footsteps and saw four pairs of heavy boots walking towards them. She clutched Ellis' cold hand tightly. Four men. In similar suits stood above her. The light from the flames cast shadows upon their bearded faces. Zoey choked.  
"Holy shit-"  
Before her world caved in. And everything went black...

* * *

**Well, I guess that's it. The real Left 4 Dead fans would be able to understand the reference to the four men :P.  
I'd like to leave it up to you. If you want a sequel. Let me know. Either review your thoughts and idea's in the case of wanting a sequel OR pm me. I don't really mind, my phone will be alerted either way :3. I hope I finished the story as well as I could. If not feel free to criticise.**

**Once again thanks for reading, and for the kind reviews, followers (I feel like I have minions!:3),and favourites. It really means the world.  
That's all folks :P**

**-Bambi**


	21. Note note note note NOTE!

So... Who wants a sequel? :3

**'Cause I'm starting the first chapter... Now-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow! **  
Unless none of you want a sequel... Of course .

Thoughts?


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